House committee considers changes to order of non-partisan ballot and election inspector eligibility

In mid-January, the House Redistricting and Elections Committee heard testimony on legislation that would change the order of offices that appear on the non-partisan portion of the ballot. House Bill 5127, introduced by Rep. Ed McBroom (R-Waucedah Twp.), would move the office of community college board of trustees member and intermediate school district (ISD) board member higher up in the pecking order. More specifically, the bill would move those two offices ahead of city and village officers and separate them from local school district board members, which would still be listed after city and village offices. Apparently, there is some concern among county clerks that with school district elections moving to the even-year November ballot, the proposed new order would provide greater programming flexibility to ensure against having a two-page ballot.

MTA gave brief testimony in opposition to the legislation as it didn't make sense to separate community college and ISD board members from local school district board members on the ballot. It also seems to give less importance to municipal offices.

Meanwhile, the committee also heard testimony on legislation to expand where qualified precinct election inspectors may serve. Currently, an election inspector must be a qualified and registered elector of the county in which he or she serves. House Bill 5119, introduced by Rep. Rick Outman (R-Belvidere Twp.), would eliminate the county residency requirement for precinct election inspectors as well as high school students 16 or 17 years of age who are appointed to serve as election inspectors. The bill should make it easier for some local units of government having difficulty finding qualified and registered electors or high school students to serve as election inspectors. However, an election worker switching from one county to another could cause some minor confusion if the person is familiar with a slightly different version of optical scan machinery. This minor obstacle could be overcome with adequate training.

As of our writing deadline, it remains to be seen when the committee might take action on the legislation.