By Neil Doyle
BLOOMINGTON – With Election Day just days away, voters will have many races and measures to decide including one that some may find confusing in Bloomington.
A proposal on the ballot will decide if the Bloomington Election Commission should be eliminated moving all election duties to the McLean County clerk’s office.
The proposal states, “Shall the city election law be rejected?”
Many voters have found the proposal not straight forward according to Illinois State University Professor Emeritus Dr. Bob Bradley.
“The way it should have been phrased is, Do you want the Bloomington Election Commission eliminated,” said Dr. Bradley.
Dr. Bradley tells WJBC’s Scott Laughlin the wording of the referendum was aimed this way so it didn’t direct voters to any specific outcome. It also wasn’t meant to confuse voters.
“They have achieved the second part tremendously in that they’ve pretty much confused everybody,” said Dr. Bradley.
McLean County Libertarians and Republicans joined each other to gather signatures to put the referendum on the ballot. Democrats have said they would support doing away with the BEC only if a nonpartisan commission handled election matters.
A yes vote for the ballot initiative means the BEC would be eliminated.
Neil Doyle can be reached at [email protected]
