* ICYMI: As President Trump vows to eliminate mail in voting, Illinois election officials say fraud is ‘extremely rare’. WTTW…

- In Illinois, there are numerous security checks in place to ensure the accuracy and security of mail in voting, according to Matt Dietrich, a spokesperson for the state’s Board of Elections.
- Voter fraud in Illinois is “extremely rare,” Dietrich said. Five people faced charges in DuPage County following the 2020 election, but certified instances of fraud remain few and far between.
- Ryan Tolley, executive director at CHANGE Illinois, said the president’s false claims about the election could have the potential to depress voter turnout if people don’t feel confident in the system.
- The Constitution makes the states the entities that determine the “time, place and manner” of elections, but does allow Congress to “make” or “alter” rules for federal elections.

* Related stories…

• Bipartisan Policy Center: Election Official Turnover Rates through the 2024 Election
• BBC: Can Trump really ban mail-in voting?
• TIME: Trump Says Only the U.S. Votes by Mail. Here Are the Facts

* Governor Pritzker will be in South Holland at 1:30 pm to give remarks at the groundbreaking ceremony for South Suburban College’s Allied Health & Nursing Center. Click here to watch.

*** Isabel’s Top Picks ***

* Unraveled | Eyes on the heartland: 404 Media recently revealed a Texas deputy ran a national search of an ALPR database to look for a woman who allegedly self-administered an abortion. Audit logs obtained by anonymous researchers also show how police in and outside Illinois have used the network of one particular ALPR manufacturer, Flock Safety, to assist ICE with immigration investigations. Both of these scenarios are prohibited under Illinois law. […] Illinois Secretary of State Alexi Giannoulias has called upon Attorney General Kwame Raoul to investigate these incidents. The AG has not yet publicly commented on the issue.

* Pantagraph | Central Illinois activists, officials on guard as Supreme Court looks to reconsider same-sex marriage ruling: Justices are expected to consider this fall whether to take up the case of former Kentucky county clerk Kim Davis, who was jailed for six days in 2015 after refusing to issue a marriage license to a gay couple due to her religious beliefs. […] Channyn Parker, interim CEO of Equality Illinois, said this news is not surprising, considering how President Donald Trump built his candidacy on a promise to dismantle many hard-won fights for rights, particularly for the LGBTQIA+ community.

*** Statewide ***

* FOX Chicago | Illinois resists Trump DOJ request for sensitive voter data: In a letter dated Aug. 14, the head of the DOJ’s Civil Rights Division asked Illinois Election Board Executive Director Sarah Matthews for sensitive data on Illinois voters. The data includes “the registrant’s full name, date of birth, residential address, his or her state driver’s license number or the last four digits of the registrant’s social security number as required under the Help America Vote Act.” The letter came after the board responded to an initial request by sending limited information on voters that protects personal data. It’s the same information that the general public is able to purchase, and something utilized by political parties and action committees.

* Sun-Times | Duckworth heads to Japan to boost Illinois’ quantum chances in race against China: Sen. Tammy Duckworth landed in Japan early Wednesday on a trip aimed at bolstering Illinois’ relationships around quantum technology, supply chain and national security. And a huge focus is beating China in the race to create a functioning quantum computer. The trip marks Duckworth’s 12th trip to Asia and 14th congressional member delegation trip since 2018. Her trip began in South Korea with a meeting with SK Chairman Chey Tae-won, whose SK Group and its subsidiary companies announced plans to invest $52 billion in the U.S. in semiconductor, green energy and biotech projects.

*** Statehouse News ***

* Press Release | AG Raoul seeks court order blocking Trump Administration’s attempt to share private SNAP data: Attorney General Kwame Raoul, with 21 attorneys general and the state of Kentucky, filed a motion to block the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) from attempting to force states to turn over personal and sensitive information about millions of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) recipients while litigation challenging the legality of the demand continues. SNAP is a federally funded, state-administered program that provides billions of dollars in food assistance to tens of millions of low-income families across the country. SNAP applicants provide their private information to state agencies with the understanding, backed by long-standing state and federal laws, that their information will not be used for unrelated purposes.

*** Chicago ***

* ABC Chicago | CPD leaders were warned of ‘problematic patterns’ with tactical team’s traffic stops turned searches: The ABC7 I-Team first reported in May about this team of officers, including some who have been named in lawsuits against the city, and internal oversight complaints that led to discipline. Now, after filing more Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests with the city, the I-Team has learned the Civilian Office of Police Accountability (COPA), the independent city agency that investigates allegations of police misconduct, warned Chicago police leadership of “problematic patterns” involving the tactical unit’s traffic stops turned searches late last year.

* FOX Chicago | Chicago Public Schools board members split on proposed budget to close $734M deficit: “This isn’t a personal decision,” said elected board member Ellen Rosenfeld, who supports the budget. “There is a city TIF policy that requires a certain amount of TIF money to come to the schools. It’s not at the mayor’s whim; it’s not if we don’t do that, then this happens. There’s a TIF act under state law.” Rosenfeld criticized the CTU, which criticized former Mayor Lori Lightfoot for calling on CPS to pick up the pension payment. With Johnson, the CTU has changed its position 180 degrees.

* NBC Chicago | Mike Quigley among potential Chicago mayoral candidates mulling run: Among the candidates who are in the “maybe” column is long-time Rep. Mike Quigley, who has been in office since 2009 and who has been crisscrossing the city, talking to various groups, according to NBC 5 Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern. […] Quigley also addressed transit funding issues, which come as the CTA embarks on a $3.6 billion project to extend the Red Line. “Should it cost a billion dollars for a mile for that extension? How much of that is our fault? It’s a quarter of that (cost) in Europe,” he said.

* ABC Chicago | Chicago mayor visits Southwest Side, as residents call for more help after repeated flooding: “The system itself became overwhelmed. The time the system was built, it was designed for a five-year rain, but we are getting more like 100-year rain,” Chicago Water Department Commissioner Randy Conner said. […] “We need the state as well as the federal government to provide emergency relief for homeowners as well as our businesses. We will not allow this disaster to turn into a tragedy,” Johnson said. “The more information we have the better prepared we will be to fight for the relief of our communities that desperately need them.”

* Sun-Times | Southwest Side residents frustrated after repeat flooding: ‘I hope the city helps us’: “The city failed to plan properly in the past, and we will continue to see damaging flooding incidents until there are some real structural changes and improvements to our infrastructure as a whole,” Johnson said. Shortly after taking office in 2011, then-Mayor Rahm Emanuel rejected calls to privatize Chicago’s water system and embarked on what he called a “great jobs bill.”

* ABC Chicago | Dog stolen from blind owner in Logan Square returned to owner, Chicago police say: Bam Bam he 14 year old dachshund was reportedly in his backyard near Monticello and Fullerton when two men took him on June 5. Chicago police said the 14 year old Dachshund was dropped off Tuesday night by two people at the 16th District Station on the Northwest Side. The dog appeared healthy and was reunited with his owner, who is blind.

*** Cook County and Suburbs ***

* Shaw Local | Joliet narrowly approves local grocery tax: The Joliet City Council voted 5-4 to keep in place a 1% grocery tax now being imposed by the state. Instead, Joliet will impose the tax starting Jan. 1 when the state repeals it. Joliet already gets the money imposed by the state grocery tax so by keeping it in place locally the city keeps the revenue source. […] For Joliet, the tax amounts to $3.7 million a year.

* Sun-Times | State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke selects new top assistant: Cook County State’s Attorney Eileen O’Neill Burke has selected a new top aide after her former first assistant abruptly stepped down Monday. Prosecutor Craig Engebretson has been named the new first assistant state’s attorney, O’Neill Burke announced in an email to staff. Engebretson has worked as an assistant state’s attorney in the office for over 20 years, and most recently served as chief of its Juvenile Justice Bureau. “I am honored to have him join our executive team and look forward to his continued leadership,” O’Neill Burke wrote.

* WGN | Parents demand fixes as School District 160 in Country Club Hills faces scrutiny over spending habits: School District 160 in Country Club Hills met Tuesday night for the first time this school year amid ongoing problems continuing to plague the district. The district is now under scrutiny as the Illinois Board of Education issued an audit for the last two fiscal years regarding grant money the district received. […] Parents had previously threatened not to enroll their child(ren) if Supt. Duane Meighan remained in his position.

* Daily Herald | West Dundee to charge residents with lead water service lines part of the replacement cost: The village board Monday voted 4-2 to charge residential water customers $5,000 of the approximately $13,000 it will cost to replace a line from the water main to the meter. Work is supposed to start in September on the first phase of a three-year, more than $7 million plan to replace 430 service lines.

* Shaw Local | Underwood decries Yorkville’s stance on fining, possibly jailing homeless people during town hall meeting: U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood said she was disappointed to hear that the Yorkville City Council recently approved an ordinance to fine and possibly jail homeless people who are sleeping in their cars overnight and camping on public property. “I think it just goes against our values,” Underwood, D-Naperville, said during a town hall meeting Aug. 18 at Oswego High School. “Where’s the compassion?

* Daily Herald | Curb your enthusiasm? Arlington Heights trustees like street makeover, but not $4.4M cost: “We just spent the first half of tonight’s meeting talking about taxes,” Trustee Tom Schwingbeck said late Monday, after the board approved a new streaming tax and extended a local grocery tax. “If we had the funding to do this where it wasn’t going to cost the village any money that would be one thing. But … seeing this project with approximately a $1 million gap that we’ve got to come up with — that’s hard to swallow.”

* Daily Herald | Suburbs regrouping from onslaught of recent storms: Similarly, the DuPage River in DuPage and Will counties, and Salt Creek in DuPage County have receded below flood stage. In Cary, Mayor Mark Kownick declared a state of emergency due to widespread flooding. Emergency management agencies in Cook and McHenry counties are collecting damage assessments.

* Sun-Times | Former Jan. 6 defendant gets 17 years for wrong-way crash that killed Skokie woman: His 17-year sentence consists of 14 years for the aggravated DUI and three years for fleeing a traffic stop before the crash. The 47-year-old Woods must serve 85% of the 14 year sentence and 50% of the three-year sentence. He’ll get credit for roughly 1,000 days already served. That puts him on track for release around early 2036, when he’d be 58.

*** Downstate ***

* WICS | Champaign City Council greenlights new $90K housing study to address market gaps and needs: The study will cost a little more than $90,000 and aims to take a fresh look at housing in Champaign. The city hasn’t conducted a housing study since 2010. City officials say the study will examine the city’s housing stock, identify gaps in the market, and explore opportunities for neighborhood development and affordable housing.

* WSIL | Community organizations address youth violence in Carbondale: Carbondale Police say more than a dozen young people attacked and damaged a homeless encampment, leaving one person injured. […] Carbondale United’s Executive Director Nancy Maxwell says they also need to work with the parents. “I know a lot of people focus on the children, but those children have parents, and if the parents are not getting the help, then we’re still losing the children,” Maxwell said.

* WTVO | ‘Misuse of public resources’: Roscoe Village President vetoes mural removal: Roscoe Village President Carol Gustafson vetoed the village board’s decision to paint over a mural on Main Street. Gustafson called the proposal a misuse of public resources and disrespectful to the artist during a board meeting on August 19. “The board’s decision to fund the removal of this public art on private property is, in my judgment, a misuse of public resources,” Gustafson explained. “This action diminishes the value of the artist’s work, disregards the opinions of many residents who supported the project and does not serve the broader public interest.”

* WGLT | New owner brings ‘growth mode’ to the Normalite newspaper – and optimism about the future of local news: Billy McMacken recently bought the Normalite Newspaper Group from longtime owner Ed Pyne. That included eight papers around Central Illinois, including the Normalite in Normal. “Ed’s done a good job of being successful with these papers, but there’s room to grow,” McMacken said. McMacken, a South Dakota native who now lives in Sycamore, Illinois, has worked in newspapers his whole professional life, in reporting, business and management roles. He last worked for News Media Corp., a chain of papers that shrunk while he was there and closed this summer after he left. He’s known Pyne for a few years and knew he was looking to retire – if he could find the right owner for the Normalite.

* WAND | Forsyth cannabis dispensary joint days away from opening doors: The Village of Forsyth has estimated the first year of tax revenue from Bud & Rita’s to be $500,000, which they will devote to new projects in the community. In addition to bringing more business to the community, the dispensary is also partnering with local businesses to mutually benefit.

* WAND | Springfield takes first step towards new ownership of Robin Roberts Stadium: The Springfield Park District currently owns the ballfield where the Lucky Horseshoes play. A nonprofit wants to take over the stadium and invest in much-needed upgrades. The City must enter into an intergovernmental agreement with the Park District, and then transfer the park to the nonprofit. Springfield City Council must vote on the proposal again next week before it can be finalized.

*** National ***

* WSJ | Trump administration to vet immigrants for ‘anti-American’ views: The Trump administration plans to scrutinize social media for “anti-American ideologies” when deciding to grant visa or green-card applications. U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services, the primary agency in charge of legal immigration, said Tuesday that its officers should give significant weight to evidence that an immigrant “has any involvement in anti-American or terrorist organizations” when reviewing residency, work and visa applications.

* NYT | Texas Republicans Ready to Pass New Redistricting Maps, Just as Trump Wanted: Republicans in the Texas House were poised on Wednesday to approve an aggressively partisan redistricting plan, overcoming Democratic protests and delivering to President Trump the congressional map he called for. The redrawing of Texas’s maps, designed for Republicans to pick up five U.S. House seats, is likely only the first redistricting battle in what could be a bruising and protracted coast-to-coast clash over the coming months between states led by Republicans and those led Democrats.

* ProPublica | RFK Jr. Vowed to Find the Environmental Causes of Autism. Then He Shut Down Research Trying to Do Just That.: Erin McCanlies was listening to the radio one morning in April when she heard Robert F. Kennedy Jr. promising to find the cause of autism by September. The secretary of Health and Human Services said he believed an environmental toxin was responsible for the dramatic increase in the condition and vowed to gather “the most credible scientists from all over the world” to solve the mystery. Nothing like that has ever been done before, he told an interviewer. McCanlies was stunned. The work had been done. “That’s exactly what I’ve been doing!” she said to her husband, Fred.

* NYT | Trump Says Smithsonian Focuses Too Much on ‘How Bad Slavery Was’: President Trump accused the Smithsonian Institution on Tuesday of focusing too much on “how bad slavery was” and not enough on the “brightness” of America as his administration conducts a wide-ranging review of the content in its museum exhibits. […] Mr. Trump made the comments a week after the White House told the Smithsonian that its museums would be required to adjust any content that the administration finds problematic in “tone, historical framing and alignment with American ideals” within 120 days.