The rest of the story
Thursday, Feb 27, 2020 - Posted by Rich Miller
* WCIA…
Some voters in Champaign County are concerned after getting more than one ballot sent to them. They all chose to vote by mail. Now they’re worried other people may be able to vote more than once.
All of them have voted by mail at the same address more than once before. They never had any issues until now. We talked to three people: two who got two ballots and another who got three.
Janet Gravlin has lived at the same address in Urbana for 54 years. She has voted by mail for several years. This year, she got two ballots, each with a slightly different address. Sharon Petersson, on the other hand, got three ballots sent to her. All of them with the exact same address.
“When you stop and think how many people are getting duplicates that… maybe send them all back, I don’t know how they check if it does go back,” said Janet Gravlin.
What’s missing in the story is how mailed-in ballots are checked before they’re accepted at the county clerk level.
* I’ve never voted by mail, so I reached out to Matt Dietrich at the Illinois State Board of Elections…
The ballot is specifically for the voter who requests it and you return it in a special envelope with your signature, which is verified by an election judge just like if you get a ballot in a polling place.
- Downstate Illinois - Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 12:04 pm:
I agree there are checks and balances that should prevent more than one ballot from being cast but there’s something massively obviously wrong in the Champaign County Clerk’s Office. An investigation should commence in 3-2-1.
- Ballots - Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 12:41 pm:
In this case, all these voters also received the extra envelope. The hope is that 1) voters are honest (most likely) and 2) that a dishonest voter sending in a second ballot in a second signed envelope would be caught by the same people who screwed up by sending them the extra ballot. (how likely?)
- Mr. Smith - Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 1:26 pm:
Well, it would be helpful if there was a full explanation of just how a mail ballot vote is registered. Presumably, there is some kind of process that would show if voter X had already cast a ballot in the information that election judges get when they report to their locations.
Was this information asked for by the reporter who contacted County Clerk Aaron Ammons? Or was Ammons simply called and asked for a comment? Surely that point is worth following up on?
- Responsa - Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 2:33 pm:
More investigation and verification is needed, pronto. In my county if a name and DOB is in the election system as a registered voter with a specific address entered, the system would/should tell a later inputer that a vote was already cast by that voter. This would apply both to a second mail- in ballot as well as if the voter showed up at the polls and wanted to vote in person. In fact, if it is shown (in the system) that a ballot was mailed to them by the county they must physically surrender it (unvoted) before they can vote in person. However, in the strange case of these dup ballots being sent out, especially if the address is even slightly different it is very possible if not likely that the person may be in the system twice or thrice as a registered voter. This business in Champaign county looks way too weird and loosey goosey to be acceptable.
- Just a thought - Thursday, Feb 27, 20 @ 3:36 pm:
I’m sure that there weren’t too many extra ballots sent out. Probably just enough to fit into a purse.