March 11, 2018
Dear editor;
I was skeptical about the effort to get rid of the Aurora Election Commission until I saw a comparative cost study that showed how much less it costs the Kane County Clerk’s office to run elections, than it does the Aurora Election Commission.
The cost difference is huge! If we look at the 2015 and 2016 elections, which included local, as well as State, and federal elections, the Aurora Election Commission cost taxpayers almost three times the amount of money per voter than the Kane County Clerk’s office spent to run the same elections.
While the Clerk’s Office spent $11.69 per vote cast to run these elections, the Aurora Election Commission spent $33.04 per vote, nearly three times as much!
Part of the extra costs include an expensive private attorney the Commission pays an average of $65,000 per year, the County States Attorney’s office handles the County Clerk’s election issues at no extra cost. In addition, the Aurora Election Commission, which consists of three unelected commissioners, recently has hired a lobbyist at an average cost of another $26,000 a year.
Back in 1934 and perhaps even in 1958, the Aurora Election Commission probably made sense. Today, it is an expensive, inefficient dinosaur of an agency, a fiscal fossil that costs us way too much money.
Aurora residents can have more and better services, possibly including passports, marriage licenses, and death certificates, along with election services, right here in Aurora by eliminating the Aurora Election Commission in favor of the County Clerk’s office.
Tuesday, March 20, vote yes to reject (the current) election law and eliminate the Aurora Election Commission.
Bruce Kuehl & Mary Jane Cross
Aurora
