A Senate bill introduced in the House by Rep. Barbara Wheeler (R-Crystal Lake) that would amend the township code to allow only one vote per member of a caucus for a township office passed despite some objections from within her own party.
“(SB666) amends the township code to provide that the township caucus participants are only entitled to one vote for each office in choosing party nominees for township elections in the local primary,” Wheeler said. “There are two ways to nominate party candidates for general elections: primaries and caucuses. In some instances, caucuses are the preferred form for the use of township elections and certainly can save money. That’s fine, so long as democracy ensures.”
Wheeler's introduced the bill because of some alleged abuse in McHenry County.
“In McHenry County, a weighted vote for township nominees is permitted, meaning political insiders have a vote which is more important than their neighbors,” Wheeler said. “That’s not how it is in primaries, and that’s not the preferred method. One person. One vote.”
Rep. Mike Fortner (R-West Chicago) supported the bill because it opens a caucus to the voters of each political party.
“What it says in statute, I think it is important to note, that this establishes that a caucus shall be held by the voters of each established political party in a township to nominate its candidate for the various offices to be filled at the election,” Fortner said about the bill. “So, this is a caucus of the voters of the political party, not of the committeemen.”
Despite support, SB666 received opposition from some Republicans.
Rep. Allen Skillicorn (R-East Dundee) said the bill was not requested by any of the political caucuses in McHenry County – most notably, by the party that will be most affected by it – and is therefore not the will of the people.
Rep. Peter Breen (R-Lombard) said the bill oversteps and undermines a party’s particular rules.
“The idea is once the party is assembled, all the folks that make up that political party and that jurisdiction and they decide on the rules of procedure they want to adopt, it’s up to them,” Breen said. “If they say, ‘Hey, we want to let elected officials within our party get three votes towards the caucus, and precinct committee get two, and general members of the party get one,’ it’s on them. Apparently, there have been abuses where maybe folks are getting a hundred votes. Well, shame on them. I don’t want to belabor the point, but it’s a private association; they have a First Amendment right to do business under the rules they set.”
SB666 has been sent to Gov. Bruce Rauner.
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