SPRINGFIELD - A new proposal would make it illegal for county clerks to endorse candidates running in their home counties in order to avoid possible conflicts of interest.

State Rep. Dan Brady, R-Bloomington, first proposed the idea shortly after his first election to the Illinois House in 2000.

A call for a recount in Brady's first primary election left him in a strange position: McLean County Clerk Peggy Ann Milton had endorsed one of Brady's opponents. In cases where a recount is called, the county clerk oversees collection of the ballots for the recount.

"It's a little bit of a nerve-racking position to be in when you're going through a recount having ballots secured as evidence by an individual who has endorsed your opponent," Brady said.

But the plan hasn't been approved since he first proposed it. Brady said his aim is to give county clerks and some other election officials a way to excuse themselves from situations where they might have a conflict of interest.

"I would like to think that those individuals would also like to be in a position where they tell candidates seeking their endorsement, I simply cannot do that as an election authority under Illinois law," Brady said.

Milton said restricting endorsements by clerks would unnecessarily limit their rights, though she said she would abide by the law if passed.

"I'll do whatever the law says," Milton said. "In the meantime, I think that it is just your human right to endorse anybody that you choose to endorse."

Milton said other positions in state government also could be seen as having a conflict of interest if the same reasoning was applied.

Rock Island County Clerk Richard Leibovitz said he has not known of election officials influencing results due to their endorsements.

"It's been my experience with the election officials in Illinois, regardless of their party affiliation, they have tried to do a good job and make sure elections are run correctly," Leibovitz said. "The fact that they are of one party or another, or for some candidate or another hasn't had any input on how they've done their job."

Champaign County Clerk Mark Sheldon said the measure unfairly singles out county clerks, is potentially unconstitutional in its limitation on free speech, and would do little to prevent any election misconduct.

"If there's an election official out there trying to steal an election, this will only stop them from endorsing a candidate," Sheldon said.

The legislation is House Bill 5278.