Quiet, but not idle.

The trip to Springfield on March 22nd was very interesting.  Truly, I had never been to any meetings in the House or Senate; the Election Law subcommittee meeting was completely new for me.

Before attending, I met with President Pro Temp Don Harmon.  I gave him the information about Cook County elections. He did not challenge the facts.  He asked for few specifics, and seemed focused on the question: Did I catch fraud?

I have heard this before.  It is a game, really. How do we catch fraud when there is no chain of custody and, when this fact is discovered, you shoot the messenger rather than address the problem?

Frankly, I am hyper focused when addressing election integrity concerns in 2012. Perhaps that is not collegiate, but there is no time to waste on games such as … “Did you catch fraud?”  No, I've found something worse than fraud.  I have caught Cook County conducting unlawful elections. 

Senator Harmon did inform me that he was a primary voice in constructing the laws that protect our vote.  I dryly answered that I am the person who discovered Illinois law makers did not provide security on the early vote because it has never been audited.   We then agreed to talk further and headed separately to the subcommittee meeting.

The Election Law Subcommittee meeting was fascinating to participate in.  It moved very quickly.  I was called to speak on the US Citizenship Bill that Senator Dan Duffy presented. This bill requires proof of citizenship in the public record for all candidates running for office in Illinois. This bill was buried for this session in the Executive Law Subcommittee.  Neither Dan nor I were surprised by that outcome!

Next I spoke with Senator Lauzen on the SB 3654 Voter Registration Audit Bill which was passed for review in the Executive Committee.  This Bill will be taken up again after spring break. Apparently, there is work to be done, but it has potential to pass! This is all new to me, and quite fascinating to observe.

While at the Election Law Subcommittee meeting, I had the opportunity to meet Matt Hawkins; an amazing ballot integrity activist from East St Louis. Defend the Vote looks forward to learning about and reporting on Mr. Hawkin’s important work later this week. Matt spoke in favor of Photo Voter ID. There are two Photo Voter ID Bills that are currently held in the Election Law Subcommittee (SB 2496 and SB 3750). Prognosis for passage in 2012?  Don't hold your breath.

Following the subcommittee meeting, Senator Harmon indicated meeting with Cook County Elections was the next step.  No one, neither Senator Harmon nor the Cook County Elections attorney present,  said I was wrong. They did ask (again) if I had caught fraud… And then said let’s talk about it later….

We are set to meet with Cook County Elections tomorrow.  Tuesday, will be interesting.

Two strategies seem apparent:  Attack the messenger and ask for proof of fraud.  Proof their actions frustrate the production of.

There have been many events I haven’t reported on related to discovering the fact that Cook County is holding unlawful elections.  The sum of it all is; Election officials have not responded to my challenge.

Here is the challenge: Show where in the Illinois election code it authorizes the procedures used by Suburban Cook County and APPROVED by the Illinois State Board of Elections, related to how elections are conducted.  If you cannot, then the elections were conducted unlawfully. 

Illinois code dictates that if the procedures set out in code are not followed, the polls shall not open and the ballots shall not be counted until the infraction is remedied. Red violations below indicate violations impacting shall not open the poll or count the ballots prohibitions.

Key Areas where Cook County is in violation of Illinois law:  All violations are based in Illinois election code.

1. Unverified custody of the key controlling the Voter Supply Container, and the unsealed VSC .
2. The unsealed memory device in the ballot scanner, stored inside the unsealed VSC.
3. Unsealed voting equipment before and after the elections.
4. Unsealed and sealed voting equipment left out on tables before elections, over night.
5. Sealing of the ballot box the night before elections
6. Procedures that do not instruct judges to check the ballot box right before opening the polls.
7. Unsealed ballots are transported to the receiving station
8. Unsealed memory devices are transported to the receiving station
9. Improper procedures for transporting election materials after the elections.