WGLT
McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael, whose office is based in the McLean County Government Center, says it needs to be clear where the fees collected from taxpayers are going, especially if the legislature wants to double a fee paid on deeds and other real estate documents.
A group of 10 Central Illinois county clerks says they re against a proposal to raise a fee that funds housing authority grants because of discrepancies in data reporting and unequal distribution of grants across the state.
The $9 is collected on real estate documents (such as deeds) that county clerks record. The proposal currently in the Illinois Senate would raise that to $18. It would also create a task force to review how the money from the fee is used.
Staff
Originally published on April 26, 2021 10:23 pm
An unusually close race for a small-town town council seat is the latest proof that every vote matters in McLean County.
Incumbent Michael Deavers and challenger William Lally both ended up with 78 votes after the April 6 election for the Danvers Town Council. Even after all the mail-in and early ballots, there was still a tie. So a lottery drawing was the answer, because someone has to win.
So on Monday at the Government Center, election judges literally pulled a name out of a hat to decide it. Lally was the winner.
“It (politics) is still essentially something that we as humans make up as we go along,” said Lally.
Jacob DeGeal
McLean County and City of Bloomington election officials said Monday they have received more than 42,457 ballots through early voting and vote by mail. That is about 37.7% of the roughly 112,600 registered voters in the county, even before polls open Tuesday morning. Just 10 days ago, the votes cast figure was closer to 20%.
Both election jurisdictions have data showing strong vote-by-mail returns.
The McLean County Clerk’s office website showed 10,912 vote-by-mail ballots have been received to date, out of 15,841 applications for a mail-in ballot. A total of 11,300 residents of the county have voted early.
Bloomington Election Commission Executive Director Tim Mitchell said 10,245 city voters returned mail-in ballots as of Friday, out of 15,693 sent out.