By Howard Packowitz and Greg Halbleib
BLOOMINGTON – McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael, a Republican, calls it a blatant lie the suggestion that elected officials like her can’t be trusted to run elections.
Local Republicans and Libertarians have submitted to the court about 1,350 signatures for voters to decide this fall whether to disband the election commission, which runs Bloomington’s city elections. McLean County Democrats are challenging the petitions, hoping a judge will throw out the referendum.
Bloomington Mayor Tari Renner said Monday that elected officials like Michael should not count ballots from their own races. Michael said she never sees the ballots. She said the job is handled by sworn election judges from both parties and the county’s election vendor.
“To infer that there’s wrongdoing in the county clerk’s office is shameful and does a great disservice. They’re doing a great disservice to try to scare voters,” Michael said.
Democrat Nikita Richards, who’s trying to unseat Michael in the November election, favors creating an independent county-wide election commission.
“I will be working along side community members and community organizations such as League of Women Voters to see that that happens. If it doesn’t happen in the way in which it could be done in a nonpartisan, non-elected official governing it, then I don’t believe that the right time is now,” Richards said.
The Democratic challenger said an independent commission can rebuild trust in the election system.
Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]
Greg Halbleib can be reached at [email protected]
