Voter Fraud Alert!
ILGOP Handing Out Voter Fraud Alert Fliers in DuPage County
WATCH: Video of Electronic Voting Machine “Glitch”
The Illinois Republican Party has learned of potential voter fraud in DuPage County that has been occurring for more than a week.
Several voters have reported that while reading the questions on the screen of the electronic voting machines at early voting locations in DuPage County, after 10 seconds, the machine will automatically highlight Mike Madigan endorsed candidates and the Tax Hike Amendment in red.
“This is an outrageous abuse of our voting system and must be quickly remedied. Speaker Madigan and the Democrats will stop at nothing to enact higher taxes on our middle class families and retirees,” said Tim Schneider, ILGOP Chairman. “Illinois GOP volunteers will be handing out fliers in DuPage County to voters alerting them of this clear abuse of our election system.”
“This serious issue needs to be immediately corrected before it further impacts the election. We continue to see more and more proof as to just how far Democrats are willing to go to rig this election,” said House Republican Leader Jim Durkin.
Good grief. This is happening on every voting touch screen in DuPage County. They highlight vote yes for the tax hike and EVERY Madigan backed candidate. Litigation forthcoming. https://t.co/Xq6wDAZRAi
* As it turns out, the DuPage County GOP knew about this. I discovered that when I did what the ILGOP should’ve done if they actually cared and checked with the DuPage County Clerk’s office…
Rich,
DuPage County’s touchscreen voting machines, in compliance with the voter access requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act, utilize a text-highlighting feature to assist impaired voters. The text-highlighting feature in question has been consistently utilized throughout the life of the county’s voting system. An audio track reads the ballot questions and available selections while the accompanying text is highlighted in red. Headphones and a touchpad are provided for any voters who choose to utilize the audio track. The text of the first question and candidate name on each page are read to the voter, and the accompanying text is highlighted. Voters utilizing the assistance keypad can then cycle through the selections for each race, which are read over the headphones while the accompanying text is highlighted in red. Voters who choose not to utilize the assistance keypad can proceed directly to marking their choices, at which point the highlighted text follows their most recent selection.
In response to concerns raised by the DuPage Republican Party, on the morning of Friday, October 23, senior staff from the DuPage County Clerk’s Office met with members of the DuPage GOP leadership for a demonstration and explanation of the text-highlighting feature and its necessity to comply with the requirements of the Americans with Disabilities Act within the technological constraints of DuPage County’s fifteen-year-old voting system. The system utilized by DuPage County is state-certified and functioned in an identical manner in the 2020 General Primary, and our office is unaware of any concerns raised at that time by parties, candidates, or voters.
Stickers have been placed on every voting machine at the Early Voting sites explaining in both English and Spanish that the text-highlighting feature is for impaired voter assistance only and that highlighted selections can by cycled through utilizing the provided keypad, as well as reminding voters to review all ballot selections to ensure accuracy before casting their vote.
Regards,
Adam Johnson
Chief Deputy Clerk
DuPage County Clerk
Also, as the Illinois State Board of Elections’ spokesman points out, “Democrats are listed first because they won the post-primary lottery for ballot placement.”
But, you know, “Madigan and the ADA-compliant Diebold machines he controls,” or something.
*** UPDATE 1 *** The Illinois GOP suggested some questions for the DuPage County Clerk, so I passed them along…
Rich,
In response to the follow-up questions you passed along from the ILGOP:
“1) If this is for ADA, why is this the only jurisdiction in the state complying with ADA? Is everyone else failing their constituents and flouting the law?”
I can’t speak for the ADA compliance practices of other jurisdictions. I do know that most other counties have implemented new voting systems in the fifteen years since DuPage County purchased the machines our office inherited upon taking over election administration last year. The newer systems have more robust and flexible options for meeting ADA requirements. The DuPage County Clerk would certainly welcome assistance in advocating for a county as large and affluent as DuPage to make the investment required to upgrade to a state of the art voting system rather than doing the best we can with last-generation equipment.
“2) Again, if this is for ADA, why is this the first year they have decided to “comply” with the law? Have they been breaking the law up until this point?”
Again, I can’t speak for DuPage County’s previous ADA compliance practices, since elections have only been under the oversight of the County Clerk’s Office since last year, when the Republican majority on the County Board voted on a party-line basis to dissolve the Election Commission immediately during the middle of the ongoing spring consolidated election rather than implement the phased transition plan our office requested. Apparently, the Republican County Board members were so concerned with the quality of election administration in DuPage County that they believed there was not a single day to spare before bringing Clerk Kaczmarek in to start cleaning up the mess.
Regards,
Adam Johnson
Chief Deputy Clerk
DuPage County Clerk
*** UPDATE 2 *** ILGOP…
Following calls by voters and Republican Party officials, DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek is acknowledging an issue with DuPage County voting machines and has committed to several remedial measures requested by the ILGOP and others.
Several voters reported that while reading the questions on the screen of the electronic voting machines at early voting locations in DuPage County, after 10 seconds, the machine would automatically highlight the candidate or question that occupied the first ballot position, which this year are the Democratic Party candidates. The technical issue is related to how the County’s voting machines comply with the ADA.
“While all counties must adhere to ADA requirements while conducting their elections, we have not seen this occur in any other county in the State, where a candidate’s name would be automatically highlighted, as they were in DuPage,” said ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider. “We brought these issues to the Clerk and appreciate the Clerk’s office taking these issues seriously.”
The DuPage County Clerk has committed to place signage at each Early Voting site, to provide a hand out to each voter, and to place explanatory signage on each electronic voting machine used in Early Voting in DuPage County. While a technological fix is unavailable during the Early Voting period, the Clerk has committed to investigate whether a technological fix may address the issue for Election Day voting.
Said Schneider, “We appreciate the Clerk taking these remedial measures to help avoid any voter confusion on these machines. It is obviously of the utmost importance that all voters have the chance to make an informed choice at the polls.”
*** UPDATE 3 *** Adam Johnson at the DuPage County Clerk’s office just called to say that the clerk’s office did not sign off on the statement in the ILGOP release above. That was a draft, but the clerk’s office said it couldn’t agree to that language and they were working on agreed language when the Republican press release popped. “That’s not a statement from us,” Johnson said. “That’s nothing that we signed off on at all.”
* Gov. Pritzker said today that several IDPH regions are becoming more worrisome this week. The Metro East’s Region 4 is back up above an 8 percent positivity rate as of today, for instance. Three days of sustained 8 percent positivity triggers mediation measures, and Region 4 only recently emerged from a long ordeal with those regulations.
Region 9, which encompasses Lake and McHenry counties, has seen its average positivity rate hover in the upper 7’s for the past few days and is now at 7.7 percent. Region 8 is now at 9.4 percent, with available hospital beds down to 25 percent. A 20 percent surge capability for hospital beds triggers mitigation.
Region 1, in northern and northwestern Illinois, cannot get its act together and is at 11.7 percent today. Region 7, which is Will and Kankakee counties is at 9.2 percent. Suburban Cook is at 7.3 with its hospital bed availability down to 23 percent. And Chicago is at 7 and hospital bed availability is down to 22 percent, just two points above the danger zone.
* IDPH Director Dr. Ngozi Ezike cried for several minutes at the podium today as she literally begged Illinoisans to take this virus seriously. “Let’s please think beyond ourselves,” she said. “For those seven, eight days that you may be shedding the virus, you’re unknowingly, unwittingly infecting people in your path.”
“The people of Illinois are her patients,” Gov. Pritzker explained after Dr. Ezike finished speaking. He also said the director has been subjected to “verbal attacks” and that protesters have shown up at her home.
“I’m desperate to find a message that will work,” Ezike said. “The virus has caused this and instead of pitting one group against another, we need to get that and fight against the virus. We have a mask and we’re asking people to use that and I don’t know what else to say.”
…Adding… Got busy and forgot to post this…
The Illinois Department of Public Health (IDPH) today reported 51 counties in Illinois are considered to be at a warning level for novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19). A county enters a warning level when two or more COVID-19 risk indicators that measure the amount of COVID-19 increase.
Fifty-one counties are currently reported at a warning level – Adams, Bond, Boone, Carroll, Cass, Christian, Clay, Clinton, Crawford, DeKalb, Douglas, Edwards, Fayette, Ford, Franklin, Gallatin, Greene, Hamilton, Henderson, Jersey, Jo Daviess, Johnson, Kane, Kendall, Knox, LaSalle, Lee, Macon, Macoupin, McDonough, McHenry, Mercer, Morgan, Moultrie, Ogle, Perry, Pike, Pulaski, Rock Island, Saline, Shelby, Stephenson, Union, Vermilion, Wabash, Warren, Wayne, Whiteside, Will, Williamson, and Winnebago.
Although the reasons for counties reaching a warning level varies, some of the common factors for an increase in cases and outbreaks are associated with gatherings in people’s homes, weddings and funerals, bars and clubs, university and college parties as well as college sports teams, family gatherings, long-term care facilities, correctional centers, schools, and cases among the community at large, especially people in their 20s.
Public health officials are observing businesses blatantly disregarding mitigation measures, people not social distancing, gathering in large groups, and not using face coverings. Mayors, local law enforcement, state’s attorneys, and other community leaders can be influential in ensuring citizens and businesses follow best practices.
Several counties are taking swift action to help slow spread of the virus, including increasing testing opportunities, stressing the importance of testing to providers, hiring additional contact tracers, working with schools, and meeting with local leaders.
IDPH uses numerous indicators when determining if a county is experiencing stable COVID-19 activity, or if there are warning signs of increased COVID-19 risk in the county. A county is considered at the warning level when at least two of the following metrics triggers a warning.
New cases per 100,000 people. If there are more than 50 new cases per 100,000 people in the county, this triggers a warning.
Number of deaths. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly number of deaths increases more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Weekly test positivity. This metric indicates a warning when the 7-day test positivity rate rises above 8%.
ICU availability. If there are fewer than 20% of intensive care units available in the region, this triggers a warning.
Weekly emergency department visits. This metric indicates a warning when the weekly percent of COVID-19-like-illness emergency department visits increase by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Weekly hospital admissions. A warning is triggered when the weekly number of hospital admissions for COVID-19-like-illness increases by more than 20% for two consecutive weeks.
Tests performed. This metric is used to provide context and indicate if more testing is needed in the county.
Clusters. This metric looks at the percent of COVID-19 cases associated with clusters or outbreaks and is used to understand large increase in cases.
These metrics are intended to be used for local level awareness to help local leaders, businesses, local health departments, and the public make informed decisions about personal and family gatherings, as well as what activities they choose to do. The metrics are updated weekly, from the Sunday-Saturday of the prior week.
A map and information of each county’s status can be found on the IDPH website at https://www.dph.illinois.gov/countymetrics.
Republican state Representatives from southern Illinois are on the road with stops across the state holding rallies for what they call the “Restore Illinois Bus Tour.”
They stopped in Springfield Thursday. […]
State Rep. Darren Bailey, R-Xenia, was at the Springfield stop. He told the crowd his efforts in the courts against Gov. J.B. Pritzker’s COVID-19 executive orders are crucial to restoring Illinois, and he’s succeeding. […]
“This man has got to pay the price,” Bailey said. “He has devastated families, he is devastating businesses, he is destroying Illinois and I believe now every day that goes by the reasons and the proof of that grow.”
Bailey claims the governor is trying to destroy the state’s economy “to be first in line for a federal bailout.”
Jewish students at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign have endured “an unrelenting campaign of anti-Semitic harassment,” according to a complaint filed with the U.S. Department of Education’s Office of Civil Rights.
Those students and others supportive of Israel “have been subjected to an alarming increase in anti-Semitism and anti-Zionism over the past five years,” according to a statement issued Friday by the Louis B. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law, which helped prepare the complaint.
Over that period, multiple swastikas have allegedly been scrawled across the campus; menorahs and mezuzahs have allegedly been vandalized; and windows of Jewish fraternities have allegedly been “smashed with bricks,” according to the statement. What’s more, pro-Palestine students have also allegedly glorified members of terrorist organizations, assailed Jewish students and their allies with epithets like “Nazi” and “white supremacist” and turned university diversity training “into anti-Israel indoctrination.”
The complaint alleges that university administrators have failed to provide “a discrimination-free academic setting” despite being notified of the “developing hostile environment.” The statement also claims that some university employees have “been complicit” in fostering that environment.
“Jewish students at UIUC have been targeted for years,” said Alyza D. Lewin, President of the Louis D. Brandeis Center for Human Rights Under Law. “We gave UIUC seven months since the complaint was filed to address the ongoing harassment. In the face of continuous stall tactics and almost no action from the university, we decided to publicize our efforts. We hope public awareness of this dire situation will prompt the university to finally acknowledge and address the egregious anti-Semitic harassment it has swept under the rug for far too long.”
*** UPDATE 1 *** Democratic Rep. Jonathan Carroll…
The Jewish Caucus has offered to work with and given the University of Illinois every opportunity to address this issue. Instead of taking this seriously, they’ve done absolutely nothing about it. We’ll continue supporting Jewish students throughout the state and stand up for their basic civil rights.
*** UPDATE 2 *** From the university…
We have not been contacted by the Department of Education Office of Civil Rights (OCR) regarding any official complaint against the university, but the lawyers who submitted it to OCR in March also submitted it later to an organization that accredits the university. We were asked this summer to respond to the complaint. After receiving our response, that organization determined that the allegations raised in the complaint do not indicate substantive noncompliance with their requirements and that no further review would be conducted.
Throughout this time, the university has been engaged in a long, meaningful and what we believed was a collaborative discussion about the concerns raised by the involved parties, so it is very disheartening that they chose to stop engaging with us. We are disappointed with the approach this group has taken to move our conversation to the media, but we are absolutely committed to an inclusive university community where everyone feels welcome.
One of our core institutional values is ensuring that people of all faiths, ethnicities, national origins and viewpoints can live, learn and thrive. We will never tolerate bigotry, racism or hate, and we condemn acts and expressions of anti-Semitism.
Robin Kaler, Associate Chancellor for Public Affairs
*** UPDATE 3 *** Democratic Rep. Bob Morgan…
I’m aware that antisemitism has been on the rise at the University of Illinois, Urbana Champaign, my alma mater. I hope the university will take steps to immediately and meaningfully confront this dangerous trend. As a Jewish UIUC alum and former ISG president, I expect more from a school that means so much to me and all of Illinois.
*** UPDATE 4 *** Jewish United Fund…
It is with deep sadness that JUF has consulted on a U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights complaint against the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign (UIUC) due to an increasingly hostile environment for Jewish students in violation of federal law.
Antisemitic harassment is expressly prohibited under Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
JUF cares deeply about UIUC as the flagship public University of our state, approximately 8% of whose student body is Jewish. Those Jewish students deserve the same level of protections afforded to every student population which faces discrimination. That in our own backyard, UIUC has permitted a hostile climate to exist is unacceptable and will not be tolerated. JUF will always stand up for Jews when our safety and security is threatened.
Even after five years of intensive discussion with JUF, UIUC has consistently chosen to turn its back on the Jewish community and allowed a hostile climate to fester. Incidents ranged from swastikas scrawled on campus dorms and a university-sponsored training with antisemitic content to repeated BDS campaigns and concomitant harassment of Jewish students on campus and in social media.
JUF calls on the University to do the right thing to swiftly rectify the current situation and return to being a place of pride for our community. We will continue to work with the University and will also continue to support active Jewish life through our Illini Hillel Cohen Center for Jewish Life.
