It turns out that the Land of Lincoln is not entirely immune to the contagion of election denialism and voter suppression.
Nationally, hundreds of election deniers are running for office; some of them refuse to say they’ll accept the results of their elections.
Election officials across the country are bracing for possible disruption by extremist groups planning “aggressive poll watching.” They’re also resigning in large numbers in the face of harassment, threats and bogus charges of fraud — constituting a major loss of badly needed professionalism and experience and, in many cases, an opening for those who want to dictate election results of their own liking.
On a smaller scale so far, similar efforts are afoot in Illinois, purportedly to promote “election integrity” but actually aimed at undermining confidence in our elections.
WBEZ-FM 91.5 has reported on a coordinated campaign of “copycat letters from conspiracy theorists” going to county clerks across the state, threatening lawsuits and citing vague “evidence” that “America has not had a free or fair election since 2017.”
These letters are inspired, and use language provided, by My Pillow founder Mike Lindell, a major purveyor of false conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. One observer told WBEZ that the letters are part of a national campaign to “grind these small offices to a halt and deluge them with public records requests.”
The Tribune has reported on a lawsuit by U.S. Rep. Mike Bost, R-Murphysboro, that challenges a state law allowing mail-in ballots to be counted if they’re received within 14 days of Election Day. This suit is absurd, since election officials have three weeks to finalize results and settle disputes before officially reporting returns. People who follow the rules shouldn’t be penalized for mail delivery issues.
The lawsuit was filed by Judicial Watch, a right-wing legal group that assisted then-President Donald Trump’s effort to stop the counting of mail-in votes in 2020. It’s one of more than 100 lawsuits challenging election rules that have been filed across the country.
The Tribune also reported that Republican gubernatorial candidate Darren Bailey has hired two prominent election deniers, both linked to Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, for his “election integrity” project. They want 2,000 poll watchers to target precincts with “ultra high levels” of voter turnout.
Illinois Families for Public Schools, which has been tracking extremist activity demanding censorship at local school boards and library boards in the state, has noted that harassment of volunteer local board members has caused some to quit and made it harder to find new candidates. This is not healthy for our civic life.
These groups have challenged the registrations of hundreds of individual voters in places such as Rock Island County, often misusing national databases and misinterpreting registration laws. There’s a danger that these ill-informed partisan efforts will result in disenfranchising legitimate voters.
They can also potentially be intimidating. In Rock Island, right-wing canvassers went door to door asking voters to sign affidavits saying whether they’d voted in 2020 — and who they had voted for.
Poll watching has long been an important part of our election process. But experience in other states has shown that when organized by groups that believe our elections are fraudulent across the board, poll watchers have a tendency to be heavy-handed and intentionally disruptive.
Even a limited number of unfounded challenges can result in voting delays, longer lines and voters turning away in frustration. Indeed, that may be the goal.
Threats, bullying, intimidation and dirty tricks were once the hallmark of the Democratic machine of Cook County before reformers from both parties largely brought them to heel. Is that the model these self-proclaimed “patriot” groups want to emulate?
Meanwhile, these groups have an agenda of “election reform,” including replacing machine-based voting with hand counts. All experiments with this have shown that machine voting — especially in jurisdictions with thousands of voters and dozens of races with multiple candidates on the ballot — is far more efficient and accurate.
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They’re also calling for repeal of a range of election reforms that increase voter access. These include early voting, vote-by-mail, and same-day registration.
As Cook County clerk, I worked with people across the state including Republicans to pass many of these measures, which made Illinois a leader in expanding ballot access.
And Illinois voters have embraced them wholeheartedly. In 2020, a third of all Illinois ballots were cast by mail. That year, more than 3 million Illinoisans voted early. Nationally, 69% of Americans voted early or by mail.
We should listen to millions of Illinois voters who trust these reforms and use them — and not to a small cadre of conspiracy-minded people — and we should continue to improve access to democracy.
David Orr is a former Cook County clerk and founder of Good Government Illinois.
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