Paul O'Grady Collects Signatures At Orland Township; Voters Upset

ORLAND TOWNSHIP, IL — As thousands walked in and out of Orland Township to vote in the general election over the past week, some were upset they were asked to sign a petition that would get Township's Supervisor Paul O'Grady on the April 2021 ballot while waiting in line to vote.

O'Grady plans to run for re-election as the Orland Township supervisor and has recently announced a slate running with him in April. The supervisor had a volunteer with a clip board asking voters — while they waited in long lines both inside and outside the facility — to sign a petition getting his name on the ballot. In exchange, voters received hand sanitizers and pens with his name on it.

Emil Punter of Orland Park said he has worked with a variety of political campaigns for over 30 years and felt the action of collecting signatures was "bothersome."

"Typically, people would go door to door, getting signatures. That is normal. It's not normal to do it so close to a polling station," Punter said. "I don't care who is running, the rules apply to everyone."

Punter said the volunteer asked nicely for his signature, and he respectfully said no, stating "it degenerates the process of voting."

Punter claims the volunteer was within a 100-foot distance of the polls. James Nally, a representative of the Cook County Clerk's Office told Patch it is OK to campaign outside the 100-foot mark.

"As long as they are not violating the 100-foot campaign free-zone, there is nothing in the law that would prohibit a person from soliciting candidate petition signatures outside of a polling location," Nally said. "Similarly, outside of the 100-foot campaign-free zone, candidates are free to give voters items promoting their candidacy."

O'Grady said his volunteers have not violated the 100-foot rule. The supervisor said he has gathered signatures at polls on multiple occasions over the years, and was surprised to see some voters upset by it.

"It only makes sense to ask voters at the polls if they'd like to sign the petition because they are registered already. The Board of Elections was aware of this and had no issue with it either," O'Grady said. "The signatures are for a different election and would not influence voters in any way before heading inside the polls. There is no pressure for anyone to sign ... this is typical campaign stuff."

O'Grady said he wants to be respectful of everyone and talking to registered voters gives him the opportunity to hear their concerns.

"It is pretty positive overall," O'Grady said. "It's very rewarding to talk to registered voters. We want to play by the rules and give them what they need."

This problem was reported to the Election Protection hotline, which shares data with ProPublica's Electionland project.