Primary elections affect caucus
Letter from Shelden stirs up questions from voters

by Kat Schwartz
Daily Illini reporter

A letter sent by Champaign County Clerk Mark Shelden in early March to a number of Champaign County households is still raising questions.

The letter, sent March 8, advised voters in roughly 2,875 households that the ballot they chose to vote on in the March 21 primaries could impact how they are able to vote in their 2001 township caucuses.

"Anyone voting in the March 21, 2000 Republican primary will not be able to vote in the Democratic caucus in January, 2001. Likewise, anyone voting in the Democratic primary will not be able to vote in the Republican caucus next year," read the letter.

The letter did not explain the above Illinois statute any further, which is possibly what began the initial controversy around its contents.

Former Democratic candidate for the 104th District House seat Mike Frerichs attacked the letter for being a deterrent of crossover voting.

Shelden declined to comment.

The letter was reportedly sent to households in northeastern Champaign County. This area of the county has traditionally voted Republican, but many crossover votes were expected to be seen for Mike Frerichs.

Shelden, a Republican who also works as an unpaid consultant for Republican state Rep. Tim Johnson's campaign for Congress, said he sent letters to only one part of the county because callers from that area were asking about the consequence of picking a certain ballot.

Brad Graven, the field director of Johnson's campaign, supported Shelden's move.

"I can guarantee you what will happen in 2001," Graven said. "There will be a race for the road commissioner and the incumbent will fight tooth and nail to keep his people in and (the opponent's) people out."

The race for road commissioner starts with a township caucus, which is a meeting of local voters who want to nominate a candidate for the seat. Each party holds its own caucus to nominate it's candidate.

Caucuses that nominate candidates for township seats are held every four years on odd years; the next will be held January 2001.

The restriction Shelden outlined in his letter means that in the year before a caucus, voters have to either vote in the primary with the same party they would affiliate with in the township caucus or not take a ballot at all. As long as it's not the year before the caucus, voters can choose any party they want without it affecting a later election.

However, Champaign County Auditor Gerrie Parr said township caucuses usually have low turnout and, as a result, most people don't really care if they can participate in their party's caucus.

"Caucuses only need three people to conduct business: the chair, the secretary and a third party," Parr said. "Not being able to attend a caucus is not a big thing."

Gaven disagreed with the idea that people wouldn't care about the caucuses, saying Shelden did a responsible thing and kept lawsuits at bay.

"In 2001, he's not going to have people calling him saying they are going to file a lawsuit because they were kept out of the caucus, and no one told them that it could happen," Gaven said. "He didn't keep you out, you kept yourself out. "Everything you do has a consequence."