By: Diane Benjamin

The Bloomington Election Commission need to be abolished now. The Executive Director Tim Mitchell is no longer there – effective today. From all appearances he did not give any notice. An employee said by phone Tim chose to work outside the office, whatever that means. I do know the County is moving them to a much smaller office behind Bloomington Parks and Rec that will make it difficult for citizens to access the office.

Other reasons BEC needs abolished:

A judge was seen electioneering at the Coliseum: https://blnnews.com/2020/11/bec-judge-electioneering/ 

An error appeared was on last November’s ballot causing considerable expense since early voting had already taken place: https://blnnews.com/2020/10/1how-bec-is-fixing-their-error/ 

Checks written to election judges bounced: https://blnnews.com/2020/04/09/becs-version-of-what-happened-with-the-bounced-checks/ 

Citizens have no way to hold BEC accountable for errors since they aren’t elected, they are appointed: https://blnnews.com/2018/10/23/another-reason-to-vote-yes-to-abolish-bec/ 

If the McLean County Clerk screws up an election that person can be voted out of office. Citizens deserve better than appointed people handling elections.

I could go back farther, remember the Renner petition challenge that was badly handled?

More reasons:

McLean County is forced to pay for BEC yet they have no control over the office. No transparency, no accountability, and the staff has been quitting since the last time abolishing the office was on the ballot.

Some candidates are forced to file for office in both Bloomington and the County since their district spans both. Election results are determined by looking at the votes on two websites and adding them together. It is ridiculous and way past time to end this farce. Duplicating services and training is a waste of money.

I hope abolishing BEC is back on the ballot soon.

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