HR0145 96TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY

HR0145 LRB096 11868 JAM 22798 r

HOUSE RESOLUTION

WHEREAS, Federal law requires a special election to be held to fill the vacancy in the office of any member of the United States House of Representatives; and

WHEREAS, There is ongoing discussion in Illinois and in the nation about using a special election to fill any vacancies in the United States Senate; and

WHEREAS, The cost of holding a statewide special election has been estimated to be as much as $50,000,000; and

WHEREAS, Minimizing the time it takes to fill a vacancy is almost as important as minimizing the cost of conducting a special election because voters suffer when they do not have a Representative or Senator to advocate on their behalf while there is a vacancy; and

WHEREAS, The biggest cost driver of conducting special elections is the requirement to hold 2 separate elections which doubles the cost of election administration; and

WHEREAS, Consolidating the 2 elections into one would cut the cost of conducting a special election in half and would reduce the time it takes to fill a vacancy; therefore, be it

RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE NINETY-SIXTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that a Task Force on Consolidating Special Elections be established to consider the administrative feasibility of consolidating 2 special elections into one in order to minimize the time and expense of filling vacancies in Congress; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force be appointed equally by the Speaker and Minority Leader of the House of Representatives and be composed of members of the State Board of Elections, officers or members of the State's election authorities, 2 representatives of FairVote, and any other experts on election administration and consolidation of elections; and be it further

RESOLVED, That the Task Force on Consolidating Special Elections report to the House of Representatives as soon as possible with any findings for deliberation and consideration.