New Study Shows Illinois Does Good Job with Military Absentee Ballots
There are many moving parts when it comes to running an election. A new study shows Illinois does a pretty good job when it comes to counting absentee ballots for service members overseas
The study from the Pew Center for the States says of four major factors, Illinois fulfills three – a 45-day advance time, electronic transmittal, and no need for notarization. The fourth is expanded federal write-in ballots for local races.
Retired rear admiral James Carey serves as advisor for the center and says states that hold later primaries put service people at a disadvantage. Illinois does a good job, but he says there’s always ways to improve the process. The fact that this is a presidential election year provides a perfect opportunity.
“The things that work well, we can pat ourselves on the back and congratulate ourselves on,” says retired Rear Adm. James Carey, a senior advisor to Pew Center. “The things that do not work well, we need to keep track of, and then we need to go back to the U. S. Congress in 2013 and ask them to tweak and fix the federal law, and we need to go back to the states where there were problems, and ask the state legislatures to fix the areas that were problems there.”
