Voting in Elgin

I’m going to try to explain what’s going on here on election day. Don’t expect it to be logical. Don’t expect to agree with it. But don’t be surprised on November 4th.

Question: Only citizens can vote, right? True, but the one person in the county charged with the task of running fair elections says that it would not be difficult for a non-citizen to vote. Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham says that the registration process does not require someone to prove their citizenship; it only requires that they are willing to sign a form that says they are citizens.

Question: To be a citizen you must learn English, right? Sort of. There are some exceptions for elderly people who would otherwise qualify. And the amount of English required is very minimal, certainly not enough to understand terms like “troop surge” or “trickle down economics.”

So in 2002, with visions of “hanging chads” in mind, the Congress of the United States passed HAVA (Help America Vote Act). Lumped in with those in wheelchairs and the blind were the access problems of people with limited English proficiency.

Backed by the Voting Rights Act of 1965 the rule says that if five percent of your population speaks a language other than English, the election materials must be made available in that language, including any voter mailings.

For us in Elgin, that means Spanish. But it goes beyond Spanish language ballots, posters, and signs. Some people complained about it and in 2007 the United States Department of Justice forced Kane County to provide Spanish-speaking election judges at our polling places.

If someone needs a ballot read to them in Spanish, the county must provide a Spanish-speaker. Or if someone has a question about the voting machine...or if they show up at the wrong polling place and they need someone to explain how to get to the correct one.

It’s not cheap to provide that service. And it’s not easy to find enough people to staff all the precincts.

Now, you might see some strangers lurking about on Election day. Some will be federal observers making sure the terms of the lawsuit are being met.

Others will include activists looking for the next fight to pick. We received information that a group call the American Muslim Taskforce on Civil Rights is mobilized to monitor polling places throughout the United States.

You can be a poll watcher as well by sending an e-mail to Ev at ev.evertsen@hughes.net

Last of all, if you observe suspicious activity at your polling place, please report it to one (or all) of the following agencies:
US Department of Justice 1-800-253-3931
Kane County Board of Elections 630-232-5990
Kane County States Attorney 630-232-3500