Many voters, such as I, make their best efforts to cast an informed, researched, ballot. If you are filling out a mail-in ballot, it’s easy to know which candidates and referenda need to be the subject of your research. But if you are casting your ballot in person in Kane County, let me help you find your sample ballot quickly, so there will not be any surprises in the voting booth.
When I first looked for my sample ballot, I went to KaneCountyClerk.org and clicked on elections. That part was pretty clear. Unfortunately, after that I tried the links for “Vote” and “Candidate List” next. These gave me a lot of general information, but not my specific sample ballot. Here is what you need to do to get that sample ballot:
• Go to www.KaneCountyClerk.org.
• Click on “Elections” on the thin red tab that runs the length of the page.
• Click on the “Election” button in the blue box.
• Finally, click “Sample Ballots” from the menu on the left.
But you’re not there yet. This takes you to the “Voter Search” function, where you can type in your last name and house number or street. Note that you do not type in both the house number and the street, just one or the other. You will be directed to a page that tells you whether you are on the active voter rolls. If you are, you will see all the people who currently represent you, from the United States president to your local school board. Finally, you need to click where it says “Click here for Sample Ballot . . . . (It will list some numbers that are specific to your ballot).”
I wish this process were simpler and I will recommend to the County Clerk’s office that they put a quick link on their site when it’s election time. For now, you can use these directions to find your exact ballot and go to work finding information about the people and issues that are on it. I usually go to each candidate’s website, then look at news articles about them, as well. For judges, be sure to check www.isba.org, the Illinois Bar Association website. Here, candidates are rated by their peers for things such as legal ability and integrity. For example, Mark Curran is “Not Recommended” by other judges and has startlingly low scores in the categories of “Impartiality” and “Meets Requirements for Office.” Because all we usually know about judges is what paid advertising tells us, this site is a truly valuable tool to know whether judges are actually qualified for the job.
This year is an important election and preparing to cast an informed ballot is time well spent. Remember, if you don’t vote, you don’t get to complain about how things turn out!