Kane County State’s Attorney’s Office responds to nine election day complaints
ST. CHARLES — Kane County State’s Attorney Jamie Mosser announced that Kane County’s General Election Complaint Hotline received nine complaints during last Tuesday’s election day voting, according to a press release statement.
On Nov. 5, assistant state’s attorneys (ASAs) visited each polling place in the county to ensure compliance with the Illinois Election Code and to advise election judges of their availability to provide legal assistance as necessary, stated Mosser.
Of the nine complaints, almost half were related to electioneering activity, with the remainder comprising of a range of other concerns. For example, one caller complained about an election judge promoting political material. The state’s attorney’s office responded by informing the polling place’s head election judge of the incident.
One polling place called to report issues of electioneering within a campaign-free zone and of a voter refusing to remove campaign clothing. ASAs responded to the polling place, by which time one of the issues had already been resolved. The ASAs on the scene discussed electioneering laws with those remaining and managed to resolve that situation.
A third caller reported being asked to remove a campaign t-shirt within a polling place which resulted in ASAs having to inform that individual about the laws regarding electioneering. A fourth caller asked about laws regarding the distribution of election material at polling places to which ASAs explained electioneering laws and campaign-free zone requirements.
Mosser said that a fifth caller complained that election judges were wearing lanyards listing political party affiliations. ASAs informed the caller that the lanyards were issued to notify voters that there were election judges of both parties (Republican and Democratic) present in each polling location.
A sixth caller complained that they were required to fill out their party affiliation upon completing their ballot application. ASAs contacted the election judges at that specific polling place and confirmed their understanding that no such party affiliation was required during a general election.
The seventh caller, a poll watcher, called in a complaint alleging disparate treatment by election judges of poll watchers of different political parties. ASAs reached out to the election judges at that polling place and discussed poll watchers’ rights and responsibilities.
The eighth caller told the hotline that she had heard a race was missing from some ballots. ASAs confirmed with the election authority that the voters whose names and addresses were provided did have the race on those ballots. That same caller also complained that one voting machine had been out of order and was closed. The election authority confirmed that the voting machine had been repaired and stated that no ballots were invalidated or affected by the outage.
The ninth complaint was made by two voters who told the hotline that they were being required to show identification to vote. ASAs spoke with election judges and reminded them that identification is not required to vote.
“I commend our office’s assistant state’s attorneys for their diligent efforts to field and respond to all complaints received on the election day hotline. In addition, I would like to thank the Kane County Sheriff’s Office and local law enforcement agencies for being proactive on election day and offering valuable support across the county. My office remains committed to addressing any additional concerns brought to our attention,” said Mosser in the press release statement.
Individuals with questions about election rules or voting access can go to the Kane County Clerk’s website at clerk.kanecountlil.gov/Elections.
