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"                      <p class=\"imgtitle\">Evans</p>           State Rep. Paul Evans (R-O'Fallon) has introduced legislation that would allow all voters in St. Clair County to weigh in on the question of disbanding the East St. Louis Board of Elections.<br /><br />House Bill 4035, filed on Jan. 20, is actually aimed at any municipal election authority with a population of less than 30,000. <br /><br />But of the eight municipal election authorities in the state, East St. Louis is the only one with a population under 30,000, per 2010 census data.<br /><br />Evans has said the primary reason for proposing the legislation was for cost-saving purposes. <br /><br />As it currently stands, East St. Louis voters will get to answer the question of eliminating the election board in a referendum that will appear on the March 20 primary ballot.<br /><br />If the board is voted out, the St. Clair County Clerk's office would assume election authority.<br /><br />The controversial question cleared a big hurdle last week when St. Clair County Circuit Judge Stephen McGlynn rejected opposition to the referendum.<br /><br />Evans' proposal, if approved by the legislature, could be effective as early as the November general election. <br /><br />Illinois' municipal election authorities, and their populations according to census date, include:<br /><br /><li> East St. Louis: 27,006<br /><br /><li> Aurora: 197,899<br /><br /><li> Bloomington: 76,610<br /><br /><li> Chicago: 2.7 million<br /><br /><li> Danville: 32,467<br /><br /><li> Galesburg: 32,195<br /><br /><li> Peoria: 115,007<br /><br /><li> Rockford: 152,871"^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://madisonrecord.com/stories/510572618-evans-proposal-would-allow-all-st-clair-county-voters-to-decide-fate-of-esl-elections-board>