More anti-democracy in Illinois This comes from Tom Cross' home county of Will
The Libertarian Party is an established party in the 85th State Rep. district since our candidate got 20.2% of the vote in 2002. I just called the Will County Clerk's office to request a list of the registered voters in the 85th District for us to use for our campaign. DENIED!!!
Not only do they try to keep us off the ballot, but when they can't do that, they try to make it harder for us to even campaign by denying us registered voter lists.
The Will County Clerk says we must file a D-1 to form a political committee with the State Board of Elections and give them a copy of it before they will SELL us a list of registered voters. But, according the state law, we don't have to file a D-1 unless and until we raise or spend $3,000 on that specific campaign. In essence, we are now required to raise and spend $3,000 on a campaign before we are allowed to get a list of registered voters so we can go door to door talking to registered voters.
Meanwhile, it is required by law that a registered voter list be provided FOR FREE to the Republican and Democrat County Chairs. For us it costs $50 plus $1 for every precinct IF we raise and spend $3,000 first. Since we are an established party in only the 85th District and not the entire county of Will, they don't have to give us a registered voter list for free, like they do Republicans and Democrats.
I've now got a call into the State Board of Elections legal department, because this is just plain wrong. If we weren't an actual political committee or established party, we couldn't have slated a candidate to run in the 85th District in the first place. If it isn't illegal already to require a candidate to raise and spend $3,000 before they can get a list of registered voters, it should be and will be. How insane is it to not allow a candidate on the ballot to get a list of registered voters in their district so they can go door to door to campaign. Only in Illinois.
UPDATE: Colleen Burke, General Counsel of the State Board of Elections, promptly returned my call with what I wanted to hear. We can buy a copy of the registered voter lists. The statutes also mention they are to be available to political committees recognized by the Federal Election Commission in addition to just the State of Illinois. Since we are registered with the FEC, we are a political committee and can have access to registered voter lists. Whether or not we get them free like the Republicans and Democrats do is a different matter. One I won't quarrel with too much, since Libertarians believe in directly paying for services provided to them. But that means the Republicans and Democrats should be paying for that service also, instead of giving themselves a free ride. No stone unturned with me.