ILLINOIS ADOPTS MOTOR-VOTER PLAN AFTER COURT LOSS

After being unsuccessfully challenged in federal court by Gov. Jim Edgar, the federal motor-voter law is being implemented in Illinois. All of the state's driver's license facilities are now asking applicants if they want to register to vote in federal elections. The start-up costs are estimated at $500,000, and the annual costs are expected to run around $300,000.

In addition to the expense, there are other problems with the motor-voter concept.

-- Anyone interested in voting can become a registered voter fairly simply. In addition to registering at county clerks' offices and election commissioners, there are opportunities to register at malls, fairs and other special events.

The plain fact is that anyone who wants to vote ought to be willing to make the effort to register. Being asked to register as part of another contact with government confuses the duties and responsibilities of voting. In some cases, a person applying for a driver's license might think registering is required in order to be able to drive. In other states such as Missouri where welfare offices register voters as part of the motor-voter movement, welfare recipients often feel intimidates and view the push for voter registrations as a condition of receiving benefits.

-- The likelihood that new voters who register under motor-voter conditions will actually go to the polls and cast a ballot is very slim. If the motor-voter effort in the Cape Girardeau area is any indication, only a handful of the new voters will show up on election day.

Is this the kind of voters who make good and well-informed decisions? Probably not. Once again, the desire to become registered rather than have it imposed as part of another government process usually indicates enough interest int he election process to find out who the candidates are or what issues are being decided.

-- The motor-voter law is another example of the federal government's interference in matters best handled at the state and local level. Do-gooders who believe the motor-voter effort will produce bigger turnouts at the polls are miscalculating the reasons people bother to vote in the first place.

Look at the numbers in any given election. People who chose to register to vote on their own, without benefit of the motor-voter law, aren't turning out in big numbers when it comes time to vote. But put an issue that is important or meaningful -- or affects an individual's taxes in a significant way -- and the odds increase dramatically that a large number of voters will want to express themselves at the ballot box.

The motor-voter bill is another unnecessary product of a do-gooder federal government. It is costly to administer -- the expense being borne by states, not the federal government. And it produces poor results in terms of increased voter participation.