* ILGOP…
Today the Illinois Republican Party was made aware of a ballot issue in Schuyler County, where Early Voters were given ballots containing the name of a former Republican candidate instead of current Republican nominee for Senate Kathy Salvi. As well, over 300 Vote By Mail ballots containing this same defect had been disseminated to Schuyler County voters. Kathy Salvi’s campaign was justifiably upset over this error.
From the Salvi campaign press release earlier this afternoon:
“On Tuesday, October 11th, it was brought to my attention that ballots drafted by the Schuyler County Board of Elections, and approved by the Illinois State Board of Elections, incorrectly listed one of my primary opponents as the Republican nominee for United States Senate. Our campaign legal team immediately took action and worked with the Schuyler County State’s Attorney. While we came to the best remedy - to sequester the hundreds of ballots that were distributed - this does not solve the most pressing problem of election integrity and transparency.”
Illinois Republican Party Chairman Don Tracy issued the following statement in solidarity with Salvi and her campaign:
“Voters need to have confidence that our election process is conducted fairly and transparently. This is an unacceptable error by the Schuyler County Clerk. While we are lucky that we caught this error early, this doesn’t change the fact that it could very well disenfranchise dozens of her voters. Officials responsible must be held accountable professionally, and Schuyler County must come up with a solution to remedy their mistake and ensure these voters have a say in who represents them in the United States Senate.”
* Schuyler has a total population of about 7,000 people. It’s small, and the number of votes at this early date is even smaller, according to this report in Center Square…
In a letter Salvi’s campaign shared with media, her attorney John Fogarty Jr., indicates the Schuyler County State’s Attorney provided information that a total of 45 people have cast early votes using the incorrect ballot.
“I have requested, and you have agreed, that these ballots will be sequestered and processed separately,” Fogarty said.
The letter also indicates 307 vote-by-mail ballots have been mailed out with the incorrect candidate listed.
“I have requested, and you have agreed, that any such returned ballots are sequestered and are not permitted to be counted,” Fogarty said. “You have indicated that while the Clerk’s plan for a remedy is not yet final, it is her current intention to send corrected ballots and an explanatory letter to those three hundred seven (307) voters who have already been mailed an errant Vote By Mail ballot.”
* I reached out to Matt Dietrich at the Illinois State Board of Elections about the plan to unilaterally sequester ballots…
We were told initially that that is what they planned to do and we recommended that they not do that unless they are ordered to do so by the courts. There have been 45 early votes cast so far and, barring a court order to do otherwise, any votes for Hubbard will be disregarded when tabulation begins at 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Schuyler County plans to re-send the 307 vote-by-ballots that have been sent to voters so far with an explanation of the ballot error and instructions to re-submit the ballot if a voter so chooses. Though some 200 vote-by-mail ballots had already been completed by voters and returned to the clerk’s office, none of those ballots had been processed for tabulation. They remain sealed in the signed, secure envelopes in which they were returned. Those ballots will be held pending replacement by the corrected ballots.
* Illinois Review gets all breathless…
“This is national news,” the insider said. “How many more votes would have gone to Kathy Salvi if her name had been on the ballot as it should be?” […]
Will the Schuyler County ballot blunder affect the US Senate race and possibly the delicate political party balance of the now-tied US Senate?
I’ve said it before, but maybe it’s time the state looks at regional election authorities and get away from its current hyper-localized system, which can be comically inept at times.
…Adding… The State Board of Elections pushes back on Salvi’s statement…
The statement issued yesterday on the Schuyler County ballot error states that the Illinois State Board of Elections approved the county’s incorrect ballot:
Kathy Salvi said: “On Tuesday, October 11th, it was brought to my attention that ballots drafted by the Schuyler County Board of Elections, and approved by the Illinois State Board of Elections, incorrectly listed one of my primary opponents as the Republican nominee for United States Senate.
The ballot certification that we sent to all local election authorities on Aug. 26 was correct. The printing error was made at the local level subsequent to our certification. The Board of Elections does not approve local ballots after certification. If possible please amend the candidate’s statement to make this clear.