I know that many people here are concerned about election reform. Well, The most progressive election reform is going to start in the most progressive states and counties. While we tend not to worry about Illinois, since it is a solid blue state, I think that it is important to realize that this solid blue state is working on some very important election reform laws that could end up being a blueprint to other states. (more in extended)
The reason this stuff doesn't get ignored here is David Orr, the cook county clerk. David Orr has been lobbying the state government to pass a whole set of election reform bills. Last week, an omnibus bill was finally passed. We finally have early voting in Illinois. People who change their names are no longer disenfranchised if they forgot to change their voter registration. Absentee voters won't be penalized for delays in the mail; as long as they have postmarked their ballot by election day, it will be counted. Election judges can now take time off work without having to take a vacation day, which will make a huge difference, since the biggest problem with Chicago elections is the lack of competent election judges. And, of course, in Illinois we already have a requirement for a permanent paper trail that must be verifiable by the voter. And he has supported things like open source voting machines too, although I don't think that bill went anywhere.
The reason I wanted to write about it here is because I think that if you care about election reform, whether you are from Illinois or not, you should look at David Orr's website, http://www.davidorr.org. There is a forum to discuss election reform that hasn't been used all that much, but David Orr has responded on it, so if you have opinions on what should be done, this is a place you can discuss it and maybe make a difference. They also have election reform action alerts and of course a place to donate. Disclosure: I know the people who worked on the website - I promise they aren't paying me to say any of this. Actually, if you have suggestions, I could let them know, so say so in the comments.