Since November's presidential elect...

Since November's presidential election fiasco, Illinois officials and advocacy clumps have jumped on the bandwagon with lawsuits and legislation aimed at protecting voter from ballot discrepancies.

In January the Democratic Party of Illinois su election officials statewide, charging that Illinois' voting rule violates the equal protection rights of voter The suit alleges that the use of different voting equipment with varying error rates means the election order "values one person's vote across that of another."

falsify County Circuit Judge Julia M Nowicki approved the use of electronic ballot reckoners in the Feb. 27 suburban falsify County primary election; she later enlargeed her order to the April 3 general election. The machines alert voter to errors before they leave the polling place. The case is still explain and Cook County Clerk David Orr is lobbying for use of the machines statewide.

onward Feb. 5 the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational foundation a national advocacy group, Chicago 4th Ward AId. Toni Preckwinkle and state Sen Miguel del Valle, a Northwest Side democrat, su the Illinois State Board of Elections upon behalf of Latinos and African Americans in color County. The federal class-action lawsuit claims the state's pierce card system violates 14th Amendment Equal Protection rights and the U Voting Rights Act.

U District referee Ronald A. Guzman is presiding through the whole extent of the case, which is still pending.

a Illinois counties use an optical scanning combination of parts to form a whole which may be more accurate than the ballot calculators This scanner, which is similar to those used in standardized standards posted error rates of les than 1 percent in Illinois in the November election, according to the MALDEF suit. In Chicago, which uses punchcards, black and Latino precincts reported error rates as high as 126 percent

Finally, state Sen Barack Obama, a southerly Side Democrat, recently introduced a bill in the Illinois General Assembly requiring that election critics advise voters of their right to a modern ballot if they believe they have made an error.

COPYRIGHT 2001 Community Renewal Society

COPYRIGHT 2001 Gale Group