By Greg Halbleib
BLOOMINGTON – Reducing wait times for November’s election is a main goal of McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael.
She says she’ll hire and train more judges and add early voting opportunities, but voters can also do a lot to make the process more efficient. For instance, Illinois State University students who registered for the first time in the primary election need to double-check their registration if they moved somewhere else for the fall semester.
“The students that moved away? If and when they move back and and if they move to a different dorm or apartment, they have to re-register,” Michael told WJBC’s Terry James. “The majority of them are going to think they’re okay and they’re registered.”
Lines lengthened in the primary largely due to same day registration according to Michael. Registering to vote on election day is convenient, but Michael says that similar to other conveniences, this also has a cost in the amount of time needed.
“If you have to register at your polling place, which is a great advantage to some people who couldn’t do it and that’s what the law was meant for, you can count on an average of inputting and checking your data taking 15 minutes,” Michael said.
Michael says anyone already registered when showing up to vote can be done in five minutes. Her office has added resources and election judges to handle what she anticipates to be a large turnout in November. Anyone interested in serving as an election judge is asked to contact the McLean County clerk’s office.
Greg Halbleib can be reached at greg@wjbc.com.
