General Assembly should consider Orr proposal

General Assembly should consider Orr proposal

Given the clamor and fallout from the Nov. 7 election that still has yet to come to fruition, voting may never ever be the same in the U.S. again.

There should, there must be a better way to tabulate ballots in America and the so-called "experts" should brainstorm on what it will be. A new ballot design? Electronic voting? Cyber voting? What?

We -- as well as many others -- do not have the answer as of now, but a proposal by Cook County Clerk David Orr has some merit and deserves consideration by the Illinois General Assembly.

Orr on Monday called on the state legislative body to approve new equipment that would prevent a similar political quagmire such as is occurring in Florida from happening here.

While he already has the new tabulating equipment that includes a built-in safeguard to protect voters from accidental "over-votes" in contested races, Orr said his hands are tied until state lawmakers give him the go-ahead.

"We're suggesting two measures that would ensure what happened in Florida wouldn't happen here," Orr told the Chicago Defender earlier this week.

"The equipment enables the voter to insert the ballot themselves into the machine, not to let the judge put it into a can.

"By doing it this way, we can have an over-vote provision which means if this happens the machine would automatically kick it back out saying `over vote for president.'" Orr said voters would also have a chance to correct their ballot before they leave polling places.

That sounds like technology that needs to be employed here and elsewhere. We suggest that legislators examine the Orr plan and pave the way to make it a reality.

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