West Cook News

GOP activist William Mueller has harsh words for the Democrats after learning an error on Schuyler County early ballots transpired.

Mueller questions the integrity of both parties.

“Not surprising to me, nor anyone else who is paying attention," Mueller said. "Democrats can only win by fraud… their ideas are bankrupt, no basis in fact or reason. The problem is that it is exceedingly rare that any politician pays any price for their crimes. It is also comical that Don Tracy speaks of integrity. This past week his party put out an ad for Greg Hart saying he will defend a woman’s “right to choose” (brutal un-anesthetized dismemberment of babies). This after Hart was represented as pro-life in the primaries and never made any correction. As a purely political move, it is suicide to do this late in the game. Republican Party in Illinois has no integrity and not very smart. As Shaun Thompson says, they just want in on the continuing scam.”

Recently, Schuyler County GOP Chairman Jason Goddard told the West Central Reporter that early ballots in Schuyler County had the wrong GOP candidate name for U.S. Senate. The ballots had Peggy Hubbard as the GOP candidate facing incumbent Democratic Senator Tammy Duckworth. However, Hubbard was defeated in the June primary by Kathy Salvi. Goddard said he was made aware of the error on October 11 about 7:30 pm, and immediately contacted the County Clerk. The County Clerk called Goddard back the following day around noon and told him that it was a human error originating in her office. She told Goddard, "45 early voters have cast votes already on the incorrect ballots. 307 absentee ballots were sent out to voters in Schuyler County. All early voting was stopped immediately and the system was updated. It has been corrected and the ballots are now printing correctly. We have no idea on the status of the early ballots and how they will be counted. We have no idea on the incorrect 307 absentee ballots and how those will be counted. 307 corrected ballots are being sent out as we speak." Goddard said that Schuyler County Clerk Mindy Garrett's office has been "open and honest" and has answered all questions.

Illinois GOP Chairman Don Tracy says that election integrity is a top priority for the General Election this year. In a June memo, Tracy mentioned that Republicans "will be spending considerable resources to recruit, train and manage poll watchers, election judges and election lawyers — all of whom will be our eyes and ears to provide accountability at the ground level in polling places in every precinct. In that endeavor, we need 3,000 to 4,000 election judges and 1,000 poll watchers statewide to effectively provide election oversight," Prairie State Wire reported. This comes as five GOP candidates were removed from the ballot on technicalities for McLean County Board this past spring. Illinois has had a history of fraudulent elections for decades. In 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy carried Illinois by 9,000 votes, and there are widespread allegations of fraud in Chicago, particularly votes coming from the cemeteries. According to the New York University Libraries, 37 people were convicted of vote manipulation during the 1972 election cycle. Keep in mind, these are the times voter fraud was caught. Democrats have also kept power through gerrymandering, and a case in point of this has been the Illinois Supreme Court over the past six decades.

Esther Joy King, who is the Republican candidate for the 17th Congressional District, bragged about the success of an election integrity seminar this past spring. Following the seminar, King noted that "The Illinois Conservative Union gave an informative presentation about protecting your vote by keeping election laws local, stopping a federal takeover by liberals in Washington, DC, and discussing opportunities for people to personally help protect our election process, including becoming a poll watcher or election judge. These positions are critical to protecting the integrity of our elections," according to Rock Island Today. King also said that as a Captain in the U.S. Army Reserve, she has first-hand knowledge of the importance of national defense. Her main campaign issues are national defense, supporting veterans, protecting unborn life, healthcare, supporting law enforcement, and education. She is a lawyer and previously worked in Kabul, Afghanistan for an education non-profit. The redrawn 17th district is more favorable to Republicans this election cycle.