Troutman, Trotter rip Senate for killing vote bill -- Trotter denounced state lawmakers for defeating (PBC) legislation

Troutman, Trotter rip Senate for killing vote bill: Trotter denounced state lawmakers for defeating (PBC) legislation

Ald. Arenda Troutman (20th) and Illinois Sen. Donne Trotter (D-16th) have denounced state lawmakers for defeating Precinct Ballot Counter (PBC) legislation, better known as the Second Chance bill, which would have ensured that all votes are counted.

It's the same legislation that the Rev. Jesse L. Jackson Sr. lobbied for, hoping legislators would be fair and approve the legislation. Earlier, his organization joined in a lawsuit filed against the state to allow the use of the PBC in February and April elections.

Jackson said since the PBC was used in surrounding suburban areas that happened to have been Republican territory he believed it should also be used in urban areas. The judge agreed, however the Illinois Senate looked the other way and defeated the bill in a 36-16 vote.

"I think voters should know that some legislators really don't want their votes to count," Troutman said. "It is indefensible that under the guise of protecting the `sanctity of the secret ballot,' the Illinois State Senate approved a bill that would roll election law back into the Dark Ages," she stated.

Troutman said there are more under votes in areas where seniors and others who are poor and people of color. She pointed to her own ward as an example of how during the November election, nearly 11 percent of the 19,122 voters "didn't get counted at all."

Saying voters "don't deserve to be disenfranchised," Troutman took a proverbial shot at the Senate accusing that body of allegedly "hiding behind a very murky smokescreen with their effort to over turn Judge Julia Nowicki."

Referring to the PBC, Scott Burnham, press secretary to Cook County Clerk David Orr, said: "We used it in the Feb. 27 Primary and the April 4 Election.

"The PBC scans each ballot for under votes and over votes and alerts the voter if their ballot contains these omissions. It gives the voter a second chance to cast their vote."

"In the case of the under-vote, the PBC does not specify which race in which the under vote occurred. The tape printout shows only the under vote but not [the] actual office, so there would be no breach of confidentiality to the voter," Burnham said.

However, that is exactly the argument given by Illinois Republicans who claim when a voter's ballot is run through the PBC there is a breach of confidentiality because election judges sees the voter's ballot. However, Burnham said that simply is not true.

"We instructed our judges not to look at the ballot but to inform the voter of their under vote or over vote.

Trotter also expressed dismay over the legislative defeat, but said "nothing's ever dead in Springfield. It will come back up but we need a push by interested people."

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