The practice of shouting out “Yea” or “Nay” to decide legislation in the chambers of the Chicago City Council will soon go the way of the rotary phone as the body starts using iPads and an electronic voting screen this week.
Aldermen have for decades voted on legislation by verbal, roll-call votes, with members of the clerk’s office calling out each alderman’s name, recording their vote by hand and passing them along to the mayor to announce. That process is not only dated — the US House of Representatives adopted electronic voting in 1973 — but can be chaotic and hard to follow, officials behind the new initiative say.
“I don’t think it’s always as easy as people think, to follow through City Council meetings,” City Clerk Anna Valencia said. “[Now] you’ll be able to understand more of how your elected official and your neighborhood are voting in real time.”
It’s a major debut that’s part of a larger, $3.5 million initiative to modernize the council, shepherded by Valencia. Her office is touting it as a move toward greater transparency.
The new system comes as Valencia is running to replace Secretary of State Jesse White. She faces former state Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and Ald. David Moore, 17th Ward, in the Democratic primary June 28.
Starting Wednesday, an electronic voting board will be projected on a massive flat screen behind the mayor at the front of the chambers, with each alderman casting their vote on an individual iPad attached to their desk. That iPad will display a “Yea” or “Nay” button, along with a short description of what they’re voting on. Aldermen will have one minute to cast their vote, though there will be leniency as the council learns the system, officials said.
Those involved in the set-up say Wednesday’s full council meeting will undoubtedly reveal kinks in the new system.
“It’s going to be a very entertaining day,” said LaWanda Crayton, chief technology officer for the City Clerk, as she installed iPads next to each alderman’s seat in the council chambers.
“I would say just tune in, right? We’re going to expect all types of things to occur,” Crayton jested. “It’s my ultimate goal to make sure the tech is all sound … And hopefully, the mayor and the clerk will do a great job of pushing people along in the process and letting them know we’re here to assist them whenever they need help.”
For some of the clerk’s office longest-serving employees, the move to e-voting is a major milestone.
“This is very exciting,” said Peter Polacek, the managing editor of the council journal, who said he’s been with the clerk’s office since the Jane Byrne administration of the early 1980s.
For decades, Polacek has sat at the front of the council to quickly record votes in “chicken scratch” on a long, yellow tally sheet.
He’s been with the clerk’s office through some of the most chaotic times in the council’s history, like the infamous council wars of the 1980s, after Harold Washington was elected as the city’s first Black mayor.
Polacek rattles off his memories of those times, aldermen standing on their desks yelling and screaming.
“There was some chaos back then,” he said. “I mean, those were interesting times.”
But Polacek and others at the clerk’s office will put the skill of hand-recording votes mostly to rest come Wednesday, though aldermen will still be able to request a verbal roll-call if they choose.
He says, though, it’s not something he’s going to miss.
“There’s a lot of other things besides votes that occur at council – there’s the collection and recording of documents, aldermen are constantly asking questions about certain legislative initiatives … So there’s, there’s a whole process that takes place, voting is just one component,” he said.
“This is turning the corner, and bringing the clerk’s office into the 21st century, which is long, long, long overdue.”
Mariah Woelfel covers Chicago city government at WBEZ. You can follow her on Twitter at @MariahWoelfel.
