Legislation passed in Springfield clears the way for Peoria County to have a single election commission. Peoria Public Radio’s Alex Rusciano reports the election reform bill allows the County to ask voters if they want a combined commission:
Currently the City of Peoria runs election services within its borders, and part of the County Clerk’s Office runs the rest of Peoria County services. Tom Bride is executive director of the Peoria City Election Commission. He says a combined service means more efficiency for voters:
“It eliminates the confusion and a lot of the back and forth between the commission and the County Clerk’s Office dealing with registration from voters and those kind of things, because everybody in Peoria County would be covered by the same election authority,” Bride says.
Bride says two more commissioners would join a county-wide commission if it’s put on the ballot and voters approve the idea. The first possible opportunity for the voter referendum is November 2014. Bride says the statewide bill also allows voters to fill-out absentee ballot applications online. Online voter registration also starts next summer.