Voter's Guide Would Increase Awareness of Election Procedures and Candidates

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

May 18, 2001

CONTACT:
Cindi Canary, ICPR
312-335-1767

Voter's Guide Would Increase Awareness of Election Procedures and Candidates

CHICAGO, IL - Every household in Illinois should receive a voters' guide with information about the candidates running for public office and helpful explanations of how to register to vote and operate voting equipment, according to the recommendations of a blue ribbon panel.

The final report of the Illinois Voters' Guide Task Force called for the State Board of Elections to publish a voters' guide as a pilot project during the next three general elections and give local election authorities the option of producing inserts about local candidates.

The Task Force was co-chaired by Secretary of State Jesse White and State Treasurer Judy Baar Topinka. Former U.S. Senator Paul Simon, who is the Chair of the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform, convened the panel.

"Our government works best when the people who select their government leaders are fully engaged in the political process," said Secretary of State White. "A voters' guide is a good way to provide basic information to every household in Illinois and allows voters to find answers to their questions before they go to the polls."

"Even though we are in the Information Age, busy families today do not have a single, unbiased source for information about the voting process and candidates for public office," said Treasurer Topinka. "Confused citizens too often stay home on Election Day rather than spend hours looking for answers about the voting process and the candidates running in the election."

Eight states publish an official voters' guide. Two of them - Oregon and Washington - have produced voters' guides since the early 1900s.

The Task Force recommended that the State Board of Elections, which includes appointed members from both major political parties, be responsible for the production and content of the voters' guide. The guide would include information on candidates running for president, U.S. Senate, state constitutional offices and the Illinois Supreme Court. It should include a map depicting the boundaries of the supreme court judicial districts.

Some Illinois counties now produce local voters' guides, and the Task Force suggested that a statewide guide should allow for the insertion of local guides, if desired by the local election authority.

The guide should include basic information such as education and professional background, a personal statement and website or campaign phone numbers. The guide should be translated where appropriate, as well as produced in Braille or audio cassette and posted on the internet.

As proposed by the Task Force, a voters' guide in Illinois would serve several purposes, including:

¢ Delivery of a specimen ballot to voters before Election Day, giving voters time to review names on the ballot as well as how the ballot is configured;

¢ Educate citizens about how to register to vote, how to vote absentee and how to become an election judge;

¢ Inform voters about candidates and referenda questions on the ballot;

¢ And instruct voters about the duties of offices to be filled by election.

Because the guide is proposed as a pilot project, the Task Force suggested the State Board of Elections arrange for an independent evaluation to determine whether the guides are beneficial to voters and local election authorities.

A recent poll by the Institute of Government and Public Affairs at the University of Illinois found four-to-one support for voters' guides. Some 40 percent of those polled said they strongly supported the idea and another 37 percent offered weaker support. Only 20 percent opposed the concept.

"The recount of votes in Florida last year offered numerous examples of confusion about what many once thought was a simple act of voting, and certainly the problems are not limited to Florida," Simon said. "A voters' guide has the potential to help bring more and better informed voters to polling places, and that would benefit all of us."

The complete text of the Task Force report can be obtained by contacting the Illinois Campaign for Political Reform or by visiting the ICPR web site (www.ilcampaign.org).