Chicago aldermen consider election reforms, cost savings
[July 09, 2026]
By Sean Reed | The Center Square
(The Center Square) – The Chicago City Council is considering new
election reforms that supporters say could increase voter access and
turnout while also reducing how much taxpayer funds go toward elections
each year.
During an informational hearing conducted by the council’s Committee on
Ethics and Government Oversight on Tuesday, representatives of
nonpartisan organizations and the city’s Board of Elections presented
ways the city could run its elections more efficiently, effectively and
affordably.
One method that is becoming increasingly used across the country is the
implementation of ranked choice voting.
Dan Ashurst, the executive director of FairVote Illinois, said the idea
of implementing the new ballot system would allow the city to reduce its
spending on runoff elections.
“Ranked choice voting allows voters to rank candidates in order of
preference instead of picking just one. If your First choice can't win,
your vote may count for your second or third choice instead,” Ashurst
said. “Ranked choice voting would save money for the city of Chicago.”
In the most recent Chicago mayoral runoff, the city spent a total of
$19.8 million for the extra election.
Ashurst said implementing a ranked-choice system would eliminate the
need for a runoff in such cases because voters can choose multiple
candidates that they prefer, and the board of elections would then have
the needed information to eliminate candidates with smaller shares of
the vote.
Ellison Radek, a policy fellow with nonprofit Chicago Votes, spoke about
the organization’s proposal for mobile polling stations – a policy that
would cost the city to implement.
“This mobile voting location would serve as a universal polling
location, meaning that any resident in the city of Chicago would be able
to vote there,” Radek said.
She contended that a pilot program for the proposal would be a benefit
to civic engagement, especially for populations that could find it
difficult to make it to their designated polling locations.
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Another policy proposal brought to the attention of aldermen is the
implementation of new funding transparency requirements, brought to
the discussion by Reform for Illinois – a nonprofit advocacy
organization focused on the role of money in politics.
Alisa Kaplan, the executive director of Reform for Illinois, told
aldermen that the influence of “dark money” within elections has
only increased more in recent years. The term “dark money” refers to
sources of campaign funds that are often anonymously contributed to
super PACs.
“When campaigns are funded by unknown megadonors, it reinforces
people's perception that government decisions are made in shadowy
backrooms by powerful figures they will never see and can't hold
accountable,” Kaplan said.
She said the group wants a publicly available money trail to improve
transparency to voters.
While the proposal could increase in transparency, the legal
precedent set in a variety of court cases might make such a
restriction difficult to implement. Kaplan disagreed.
“Several states, including Alaska, California, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, and more, have already shown this kind of reform is both
legally sound and broadly popular. At the federal level, more than
200 members of Congress have sponsored a similar bill called the
Disclose Act,” Kaplan said.
Some aldermen questioned if such a regulation would even fall under
their jurisdiction. Kaplan told the committee that it should fall
under their rule because the city already imposes similar campaign
finance regulations.
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