Electile Dysfunction?

There's an old joke in Illinois -- you know it's in Lake County, probably in Illinois -- that goes ...

Q:

When will the voters become oblivious of the 2013 Consolidated Election?

A:

Six weeks after they were oblivious of the 2013 Consolidated Primary.

Haha, Illinois's best-kept secret is scheduled for next Tuesday, April 9. If any fewer people knew about the upcoming top-secret 2013 election, that would be about the 2013 primary election, from six weeks ago.

Elections are not free and the 2013 Primary was no exception. Predictably, the Daily Herald was not amused. The taxpayer ...

paid about $30,000 in Lake County to have 4,166 Democratic voters determine which of the party's three Waukegan mayoral candidates would face two independent candidates in the actual election.
Primaries: Low voter turnout, big cost to taxpayers

That works out to more than $7 per vote, which is about the going rate in Waukegan. Those turnout numbers actually seem a lot higher than would be expected. Your LakeCountyEye has been told that County officials are closely monitoring local elections in Wisconsin, with an eye toward improving existing programs for suppressing the vote in Waukegan.

In these hard economic times, it seems, everyone will have to tighten their belts. Lake County Clerk Willard Helander told the Herald ...

"The big costs are staffing, printing ballots, renting facilities and hiring people to move equipment." In Lake County, more than $37,000 was spent on salaries for "election judge and site manager payroll," Helander said.
Primaries: Low voter turnout, big cost to taxpayers

Your LakeCountyEye observes that some serious money will be saved if they can reduce those voter turnout numbers down to zero. Just sayin!

So few people are expected to vote in the April 9 election that a proportional number of candidates decided to sit this one out as well. The Daily Herald, predictably, is not amused:

A lack of ballot competition in Tuesday's election means many homeowners aren't likely to see much in the way of policy change when it comes to property taxes. While voters will make key choices in some local races, more than 60 percent of the 2,100-plus races that will be decided in suburban Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake and McHenry counties are uncontested, have fewer candidates than seats available or have no candidates at all.
Uncontested races likely mean status quo on local taxes

Note to ops: Yes, the Daily Herald that disapproves of wasting money on off-year primary elections is the same Daily Herald that laments the dearth of candidates on this off-year election ballot. And just where are all these general election candidates supposed come from -- without a nominating primary?  Your LakeCountyEye is not amused.

With no one on the ballot this Tuesday, and with no one voting, any single vote cast is quite likely to be the difference between the thrill of victory and the agony of defeat. The going rate for your LakeCountyEye's vote is as low as $7 -- and be sure to ask about the volume discount.

Look for your LakeCountyEye next Tuesday at a voting booth near you. Where permitted by law.