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Jan. 1, 2010
New election information for 2010
~Voting tabulators will alert voters who undervote (no ovals marked) in
statewide constitutional office races (Governor, Lieutenant Governor,
Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer.) In
such case, voters may choose to have the tabulator accept the ballot as is,
or may review and change the ballot. It is NOT required that the voter
vote in any races for the ballot to count.
~New law provides that absentee ballots may be requested without excuse.
Dec. 1, 2009
Voter registration closes
January 5
Voter registration for the General Primary Election on Tuesday, February 2,
2010 will close at 4:30 p.m. on Tuesday, January 5, 2010.
All persons who are or will be 18 years old on or before the General Primary
Election on February 2, 2010, and are not now registered, and those who must
change their names or addresses, and wish to vote may register in person at the
Board of Election Commissioners’ office, 115 E. Washington St. Room 403, or the
McLean County Clerk’s office, 115 E. Washington St. Room 102, Bloomington, IL,
from 8:00 a.m. until 4:30 p.m. Monday through Friday, and on the following
Saturdays in the Board of Election Commissioners’ office only: December 12, 19,
26, 2009, and January 2, 2010 from 9:00 a.m. until 12:00 p.m.
Voter registration is also taken at the Bloomington Public Library at 205 E.
Olive St. during their regular business hours.
Please bring two forms of identification with you, one with your name and
current address and one with your name.
September 1, 2009
New precinct lines
have been drawn in the City of Bloomington. During the summer of 2009,
all registered voters in Bloomington received new voter registration
cards with information on their new precincts. The cards were sent
in the months of June through August in several mailings. Please look
at your new card carefully. Old voter cards may be discarded when you
receive a new one. If you do not receive your new voter card by the
end of September 2009, please call the office at 309-888-5136 to check your
current voter status.
November 13, 2003
Good-bye,
Chad ~ Hello, Optical Scan M100
Chad has finally retired. He was honored at an open house at the
Election Commission offices attended by 100 people on Thursday, November 13,
2003,
where the new optical scan voting systems
were also introduced.
Chad’s contract with the Bloomington
Board of Election Commissioners started in December 1967. A press
conference was held in January of 1968 to announce his arrival and he
held his first official public demonstration for the press, city and county
officials, and the leaders of the political parties.
His first election was a
school board election in April 1968. Everything went smoothly except the voters
tried to use the pencils to punch the cards and of course the lead broke off in
the device and jammed the machine.
The voters liked the new
system and Chad knew he’d found a home and was here to stay. It was never
his fault that a voter may feel embarrassed to ask for help. It wasn’t his
fault that a voter may have used the pencil to try to punch the number of his
favorite candidate and jammed the machine. It wasn’t his fault that the voter
didn’t look at his ballot to verify that all holes were punched cleanly and
correctly. It was never his fault that the wrong hole may have been punched.
He always did his best.
Well, many years have passed
and after some problems at the presidential election in 2000, new election
systems have come to take his place. Even Uncle Sam has lost faith in him.
He served us well in the City of Bloomington. We had few problems. He was part
of years of non-partisan, successful, and accurate elections. The voters were
confident in his ability to perform well and comfortable with his procedures.
We must say
goodbye to him today and wish him well in his retirement.
11/13/2003
The Help America Vote Act
(HAVA) requires election authorities
across the nation to replace punch card and lever machine voting. The
Bloomington Board of Elections has chosen to replace punch cards with an
optical scan system after demonstrations of optical scan and touch screen
equipment at the McLean County Fair and the judge of election appreciation
dinner. The public was surveyed and judges of election voted for the
system they liked best.
After seeking proposals from
both state-certified vendors for the optical scan equipment the Board has chosen
to purchase 26 Model 100 Optical Scanners and voting system from Election
Systems and Software for $174,975.
The Board, in anticipation
of this purchase and the required future purchase (by January, 2006) of HAVA-compliant
equipment that is accessible to individuals with disabilities, has set aside
funds from past budget years for this purpose. HAVA grant money, in the amount
of $3,192 for each precinct used at the November 2000 election, is available
upon completion of the contract for new equipment with the filing of an
application to the State Board of Elections.
The expected $130,881 grant
will cover most of the first part of the mandated HAVA punch card replacement.
By January 2006 the Board must have in place at least one voting unit that will
allow the visually impaired to vote unassisted. These units are an additional
$3,700 each.
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