GOP congressional candidates: End grace period for mailed ballots

A 20-year U.S. Army veteran now running for Congress in the largely suburban 11th District believes ballots cast through the mail by military personnel and other Americans shouldn’t be counted if they’re received after Election Day.

“Election Day is Election Day,” said retired Lt. Col. Michael Pierce, a Naperville Republican making his first run at political office.

Two other Republican hopefuls in the 11th District, Tedora Brown of Palos Park and Charlie Kim of Aurora, also said mailed ballots received after Election Day should be disqualified.

A fourth candidate, Jeff Walter of Elburn, didn’t object to maintaining a grace period for late-arriving ballots. All states should have the same deadline, however, he said.

Pierce and Walter were asked about the issue during a joint virtual interview with the Daily Herald last month. Brown and Kim didn’t attend the session but shared their opinions later via email.

Under Illinois law, ballots postmarked by Election Day can be counted up to two weeks afterward. But the U.S. Supreme Court recently ruled Republican U.S. Rep. Mike Bost of downstate Murphysboro and other plaintiffs can challenge that law.

Bost and his allies argue federal law doesn’t allow ballots arriving after Election Day to be counted. President Donald Trump repeatedly has pledged to end voting by mail.

Some states require mailed-in ballots to be in the hands of elections officials no later than Election Day to be counted. Many others, including Illinois, give voters grace periods.

Last year, Trump signed an executive order that sought to punish states that accept ballots after Election Day. The order is facing a legal challenge.

Pierce said he voted “quite often” by absentee ballot while in the Army, but he believes the system should change.

Ballots should be at election offices by Election Day, Pierce said, not just postmarked by then. That would require Americans living or traveling overseas at election time to vote earlier than they do now, which is fine with Pierce.

“There should be a certain cutoff,” Pierce said. “People should know, ‘OK, I’ve got to get this in before such-and-such a date.’”

Military personnel know they have to mail packages for Christmas so many days ahead of the holiday, Pierce said, and voting should be no different.

“I do think it’s reasonable to say Election Day is Election Day,” Pierce said.

Brown, a real-estate developer making her first run at Congress, agrees with Pierce about not counting votes after Election Day.

“No exceptions,” she said. “Every ballot should be in the hands of the officials on Election Day.”

Grace periods for late-arriving ballots enable corruption, Brown added.

“Our goal is to end election fraud,” she said.

Kim believes all ballots should be received by Election Day to prevent corruption. Additionally, having a single Election Day instead of periods for early voting and late-arriving ballots would prevent some voters from influencing election results, he said.

Kim also voiced concern about invalid votes being cast by mail.

Walter, who has been Elburn’s mayor since 2017 after eight years as a village trustee, doesn’t object to granting a grace period after Election Day for late-arriving ballots. But he wants the deadline to be consistent in every state.

“If we pick one date, whether it’s Election Day, whether it’s a week after Election Day, whatever that might be and that is the date for all states … I think this whole argument goes away,” said Walter, a U.S. Navy veteran who rose to the rank of master chief.

Variances for when mailed ballots are due can lead people to wonder “what kind of shenanigans are they up to,” Walter said.

The winner of the Republican primary will face Democratic U.S. Rep. Bill Foster of Naperville in November’s general election. Foster is running unopposed in the Democratic primary.

The 11th Congressional District encompasses portions of Cook, DuPage, Kane, Lake, McHenry, Will, DeKalb and Boone counties.