Thursday, February 09, 2012
 
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Absentee voting begins today in Logan County

What voters should know before they cast their ballots

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[February 09, 2012]  Today is the first day Logan County residents will be able to cast their votes for the March 20 primary election via an absentee ballot.

Voting may be done by visiting the office of Sally Litterly, Logan County clerk and recorder, in the Logan County Courthouse. The hours to vote there are Monday through Friday from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.

There are no qualifying factors for voting absentee; anyone who wishes to do so may, regardless of their reason.

In a recent interview with Litterly, she said that the number of people in Logan County who vote absentee is relatively small, less than 5 percent of the total votes counted at each election.

Among those 5 percent are members of the military. Litterly said absentee ballots have already been mailed out to those in the service, meaning that whether they are stationed at a camp stateside or an encampment overseas, all will have a voice in selecting federal, state and local candidates for the fall elections.

This year is a presidential year. So, all voters will have the opportunity to express their choice of candidate for president. There are also several state positions up for election. Candidates on this year's ballot include those for the offices of Illinois delegates and alternate delegates, representative in Congress from the 18th Congressional District, state senator from the 44th Legislative District, and representative in the General Assembly from the 87th District.

Local offices up for election

Local offices up for election are clerk of the circuit court, state's attorney, county coroner, county board members for Districts 1-6, appellate judge of the 4th Judicial District, circuit judge of the 11th Judicial Circuit and precinct committeemen.

For the most part, local candidates are running uncontested, with the exception of District 2 of the Logan County Board.

Each district has two seats available on the county board. This year Districts 1 through 6 have board members up for re-election.

In Districts 1, 3, 4, 5, and 6 there are only two incumbent candidates running for each district. In District 2 there are, however, three candidates: incumbents Jan Schumacher and Robert Farmer and a new candidate, Daniel F. Meyer.

Write-in candidates

There are no write-in candidates for any of the offices this year, though Litterly said there could have been. As many know, earlier in the year there were two possible candidates for county coroner: incumbent Robert E. Thomas and Bill Shelby.

In December Shelby's bid for the ballot was thrown out due to insufficient valid signatures on the required petitions. Shelby had recorded petitions containing a total of 55 signatures with the county, but it was later found that 17 of those were invalid, leaving him with only 38, two short of the required 40.

Litterly said that after being taken from the ballot, Shelby could have filed to be a write-in candidate, but he did not do so.

In addition to the official nomination of candidates for the fall election, there are several referendums on the spring ballot.

Clinton Community School District building bonds

Litterly explained that the first referendum is for the Clinton Community School District, and the rest involve approval of aggregation of electricity.

The Clinton school referendum is a proposition to issue school building bonds. Simply put, these bonds are loans that use property tax levies as collateral. Litterly said voters who will be interested in this referendum are primarily those located in the Chestnut area of Logan County. These Logan County residents are affected by this referendum because there are children in that area who attend Clinton schools.

Electric aggregation

Voting on electric aggregation will appear in several areas. It will be on the ballots of Logan County residents in unincorporated areas of the county. Incorporated areas in the county that will have this issue on their ballots are Atlanta, Emden, Lincoln, Middletown, Mount Pulaski and San Jose.

Litterly said even though she realizes there are plans in the works for public meetings and education on the topic of electric aggregation, she is concerned that those who vote early may not know enough on the issue to make an informed decision when they vote.

The first point to be made is that those who live inside the incorporated areas of Elkhart, Hartsburg and Latham will have nothing to vote on. Because those community leaders have not placed a referendum on the ballot, residents of those areas will not be asked for a decision at this time. However, that doesn't mean they won't have a voice eventually. Litterly said those communities may choose to place their referendum on the ballot for the fall general election.

For those who live in the incorporated areas of Atlanta, Emden, Lincoln, Middletown, Mount Pulaski and San Jose, a vote of "yes" to their respective referendums would mean that the voter is supporting or giving permission for their community leaders to negotiate with various providers of electricity in order to obtain the best rates possible for residents and small businesses.

The aggregation program is known as an "opt out" program. Because of this, once leaders have the permission of the voters to negotiate, local residents and businesses will have the choice of whether or not to take their electric business to the provider the local government selects.

In each community, once a provider is selected, letters are to be sent out asking eligible residents and small businesses if they wish to participate.

In order to be enrolled with a new provider, the resident doesn't need to take any special action. However, if the resident or small business decides they do not want to be a part of the community program, they will have to express this though their "opt out" option.

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Not all residents will be eligible to make the switch, primarily because they may not benefit from it. Those who participate in the Ameren PIPP program will not be switched. Under the Percentage of Income Payment Plan, or PIPP, eligible clients pay a percentage of their income, receive a monthly benefit toward their utility bill and receive a reduction in overdue payments for every on-time payment they make by the bill due date.

Others who might not be switched are high-usage customers. Ameren offers a graduated price scale that allows for lower prices with higher usage. When the final bills are averaged out, these consumers may already be getting an overall better rate than a new provider could offer.

Part of the job of the consultant being hired by many areas will be to help residents, small businesses and local government leaders make an informed decision as to which customers will benefit from changing providers and which will not.

All the incorporated areas in the county are currently being served by Ameren Illinois for their electric needs. With a new provider, bills for electricity will still be issued by Ameren, and services such as line maintenance and downed wires will still be the responsibility of Ameren as well.

Internet

In the rural areas of the county, the situation is a bit muddier. In addition to those serviced by Ameren, there are portions of the county where customers belong to a rural electric cooperative.

According to Mike Maniscalco of the Lincoln & Logan Development Partnership, there are a number of cooperative electric providers in Logan County, such as Menard Electric, which services the county's southwest corner.

Electric aggregation, by law, is only available for Ameren Illinois and Commonwealth Edison customers. Therefore, those who get their service through a cooperative are being asked to vote on the Logan County referendum even though it will have no benefit for them personally.

However, Maniscalco said it is still very important for those voters to make an informed decision and hopefully vote in favor of the aggregation.

"When they vote for the aggregation, they are saying they want the county to have the right to make a decision," he explained.

He went on to say that the decision would be for the greater good of the whole county, so in essence what they will be doing is giving their neighbors countywide the opportunity to benefit from the program through better electric rates.

Maniscalco also noted that no one knows what the future will hold. There may be a day when the cooperatives don't exist. He said nothing he knows of indicates this is ever going to happen, but if it does, the mechanism will already be in place for those cooperative members to get the best rates available, through the electric aggregation.

In recent weeks, many of the incorporated communities in the county and the city of Lincoln have voted to hire Illinois Community Choice Aggregation Network as their consultant in the aggregation process.

Later this month the Logan County Board is also expected to make a decision on hiring the same firm.

ICCAN will work between now and March 20 to get the word out to the entire community about what aggregation means, how it works and who can benefit from it.

For those who choose to vote early via the absentee ballot, they may have voted before they get the opportunity to hear what ICCAN has to say. However, it is the hope of the communities and the development partnership that absentee voters will give their approval to the referendum, knowing it opens doors for electric rate negotiation, and at the same time it in no way obligates them personally to go along with switching providers.

To stay up to date on information about the upcoming election, click on the button labeled "Logan County Clerk/Recorder Sally Litterly Election Info" at the top of the front page of Lincoln Daily News, or follow the link below to the same location.

Litterly said she hopes to have sample ballots ready to be posted on that LDN link next week.

___

Related links:

Logan County Clerk/Recorder Sally Litterly Election Info (LDN button):
http://www.lincolndailynews.com/
images/ads/current/election_notices.htm

Illinois Community Choice Aggregation Network:
http://www.ippconnect.com/CCA.php

[By NILA SMITH]

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