Ballot integrity questions arise in race for 14th

An election watchdog group is airing concerns about ballot integrity on the heels of a federal judge signing an agreement regarding the special election to replace retired U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert.

At issue is a provision in the agreement allowing local election authorities in the 14th Congressional District to clear the memory card data from the Feb. 5 special primary election so the cards can be re-used for the March 8 special general election. If the cards are not cleared, some election officials say they'd have to purchase more memory cards -- a cost the cash-strapped agencies claim they can't bear.

But Roy Lipscomb, technology director for the Evanston-based Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, said destroying such vital public records prematurely is unwise. Data on the memory cards might be needed in the event of a recount or to otherwise audit the election, he pointed out.

"I don't know if they're going to take that (provision) as a cue to destroy them in two weeks," Lipscomb said. "Now this is not a claim that there's any chicanery planned or going on. It's just an attempt to follow conservative election practices that were wisely laid down by legislators."

Still, election authorities are required to print out hard copies of the data to serve as the permanent record.

Purchasing extra memory cards would cost Kendall County about $5,000, said Kendall County Clerk Rennetta Mickelson. Election officials from most of the other counties in the district -- DuPage, Kane, DeKalb, Bureau, Henry, Lee and Whiteside -- said re-using the memory cards isn't an issue for them because they have enough for both elections.

"I don't want to sound like I'm making light of anyone's concerns, but I do believe, personally, having the paper copies will be sufficient," Mickelson said. "I am concerned that there are some folks who seem to think the election authorities are somehow not interested in running a good election, and I can tell you that what is uppermost on our agendas is to run a good election. There's no perfection in anything in life, but it really does matter to us that people have an opportunity to vote and their votes do count."