BLOOMINGTON -- In 1974, Illinois' first county election commission was created in DuPage County.

It remains the only one, but that could change if the League of Women Voters of McLean County has its way.

The league thinks the Bloomington Election Commission should be eliminated and a new county election commission formed to handle all election duties that currently are shared by the commission and the McLean County Clerk's office.

League members say it would be less confusing for voters, save tax dollars and, perhaps most importantly, ensure that all election functions are overseen by an appointed, rather than elected, office holder.

"The league's position is that administration positions are best appointed to permit the greatest professionalism and efficiency while policy-making positions are best elected to reflect the views of the electorate," said members Carol Reitan and Carol Straka.

League member Julie Prandi, chairwoman of a committee that conducted a nine-month study of the McLean County election system, agreed, saying "The non-partisan leadership of election commissions makes the county election commission the better way to go..."

Currently, the non-partisan Bloomington Election Commission handles all elections for City of Bloomington residents and the McLean County Clerk's office, headed by an elected official, coordinates elections for all other municipalities in the county, including Normal.

McLean County is one of only eight counties in Illinois that have two separate election authorities. Elections are coordinated by the county clerk's offices in all other counties, except DuPage.

Bi-partisan oversight

The desire to have a bi-partisan office handle elections was one of the main reasons behind the push for a DuPage County Election Commission 35 years ago, said Robert Saar, the commission's executive director.

The change was spearheaded by William Redmond, a Democrat in predominantly Republican DuPage County. Redmond went on to serve as speaker of the Illinois House.

"He was interested in seeing bi-partisan oversight of elections," said Saar.

A county election commission has a three-member board appointed by the County Board chairman. One representative has to be a Democrat and one has to be a Republican.

Besides Redmond's backing, Saar said the DuPage county clerk at the time did not like administering elections. The clerk also knew he could still have input in elections because the county election commission had to offer him a seat as one of the commissioners. The clerk also has the option of not serving.

Saar said the clerk's office was able to reduce its staff slightly after election duties were turned over to the county election commission, but added it's hard to determine other savings.

Change

"So much changed (with elections)," he said. "In the 1980s, election consolidation came into effect. In 1993, there was the National Voter Registration Act and in 2000 the feds got more involved in the Help American Vote Act."

Each action changed work in the office, he said.

DuPage County also has doubled in population, and more than doubled in the number of citizens served. Voter registration went from about 68 percent to 90 percent, he said.

"We've only added a couple more staff members. We have a good track record of technological developments and have introduced a lot of technology to Illinois," Saar said.

Currently, the office has 25 full-time employees and an average $4.5 million annual budget, which is paid out of the DuPage County budget. The office handles 749 precincts and 565,000 registered voters.

Saar said his staff does all the programming, testing and maintenance of 800 voting machines, leaving no "down time" between elections.

"We have a very lean office for all that we do," he said. "We used to have a lot of clerical staff; now we only have four people handling 850 transactions a day. We've shifted to technical people."

When elections were under the control of the county clerk's office, Saar said, the county spent "hundreds of thousands of dollars" for vendors to provide those services.

Savings

Reitan and Straka think changing to a county commission in McLean County could bring "modest savings." Prandi believes it would bring "big savings."

Currently, the Bloomington Election Commission and the McLean County Clerk's office receive a total of about $1 million annually from the McLean County budget to coordinate elections. The amount is higher in presidential election years.

Election budgets

Listed are the amounts set aside for elections in the McLean County budget. Funding for the Bloomington Election Commission is based on a state formula. It increases each year based on the increase in assessed valuation of property within the city limits.

...Fiscal year 2009...Fiscal year 2010 (proposed)

McLean County Clerk's office

(4.55 staff members, vendor contracts, etc.)...$453,404...$542,250

Bloomington Election Commission

(2 staff members, commission members,

vendor contracts, etc.)...$440,185*...$455,373*

*The commission typically returns about $100,000 to the county's general fund annually