9 Complaints Made On Election Day In Kane County: State's Attorney

KANE COUNTY, IL — The Kane County State's Attorney's Office responded to nine complaints on Election Day, officials said Wednesday.

Voters reported nine complaints on Nov. 5 to the county's General Election Complaint Hotline. Half were related to electioneering activity, and the others comprised a "range of concerns," officials said.

On Election Day, assistant state's attorneys visited each polling place in Kane County to ensure compliance with the Illinois Election Code and inform election judges of their availability to provide legal assistance if necessary. Anyone who experienced problems and irregularities or witnessed possible illegal activity — including electioneering, illegally placed campaign signs or denial of voting rights — was encouraged to call the county's hotline.

One caller complained about an election judge promoting political material, resulting in the responding ASA informing the polling place's head election judge of the incident.

Another polling place called to report issues of electioneering within the campaign-free zone and of a voter refusing to remove campaign clothing. By the time ASAs responded, the issues concluded, according to a news release.

A third caller reported being asked to remove a campaign t-shirt within a polling place, and ASAs informed the person of electioneering laws. A fourth person called to ask about laws regarding the distribution of election material at polling places.

Officials said a fifth caller complained that election judges were wearing lanyards listing political party affiliations. In this case, ASAs explained the lanyards were issued to notify voters that there were election judges of both parties present in each polling location.

The sixth caller complained they were required to fill out their party affiliation upon completing their ballot application, and ASAs contacted election judges to confirm they understood party affiliations were not required during a general election.

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A seventh caller, a poll watcher, complained election judges were allegedly mistreating poll watchers of different political parties, prompting ASAs to speak to election judges at the polling place and discuss poll watchers' rights and responsibilities.

The eighth caller reported that she heard a race was missing from some ballots. ASAs confirmed with the election authority that the voters whose names and addresses were provided did, in fact, the race on those ballots. The same woman also complained that one voting machine was out of order and was shut down, and the election authority confirmed that machine had been repaired and confirmed no ballots were invalidated or affected by the outage.

The final complaint was made by two voters about being required to show identification to vote. ASAs spoke to election judges to remind 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," State's Attorney Jamie Mosser said in a statement. "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."