It’s been more than a year since Alexander County officials learned they had more registered voters than voting-age residents, but local officials appear to have taken no steps to remedy the problem.
Francis Lee, the top election official in the state’s southernmost county, said she has received no money to conduct a purge of her voting rolls, which show more than 7,800 registered voters in a county with a population of 7,100 residents over the age of 18. “We’re having financial problems all around,” said Lee, who was appointed county clerk in November 2009.
Although Lee contends the situation has not led to any voting irregularities, the county has experienced voter fraud issues in the past. The fact that nothing is being done is troubling to some residents. “I am not at all surprised that nothing has been done to clean up the voter rolls,” said Curtis Miller, a Tamms resident who began raising red flags about the problem more than a year ago.
State election law requires county clerks to purge voter rolls to eliminate people who have died or moved out of the county. In September 2010, Lee vowed to fix the problem. “It is my intention to get it cleaned up,” she said at the time.
Now, however, she said her request for an estimated $20,000 to conduct the review was turned down by the county board. “Do they decide not to pay the jail bill or the employee health insurance or pensions?” Lee asked. “The board has not given me a solution.”
State elections officials say they offer a reimbursement program that would offset the cost of a voter roll review, but the county hasn’t taken them up on the idea. Illinois State Board of Elections Director Rupert Borgsmiller said its not clear what else the state can do. “It’s a question that we don’t have an answer for,” Borgsmiller said.
Full Article: Voting woes not resolved in southern Illinois county.