‘Our contingency plans have contingency plans’: Officials preparing for potential changes ahead of Election Day

Suburban election officials insist a U.S. Supreme Court decision Monday that preliminarily approves President Donald Trump’s order restricting mail-in voting isn’t affecting their plans for the Nov. 3 midterms.

“The DuPage County clerk’s office is moving forward with election operations consistent with the law as it currently stands,” Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson said.

That doesn’t mean officials aren’t preparing for legal curveballs.

“We are examining every potential scenario that could affect the administration of this election,” Cook County Clerk Monica Gordon said through a spokesperson. “Frankly, our contingency plans have contingency plans.”

Trump wants stricter rules

Trump continues to push the false claim that his 2020 election loss to Democrat Joe Biden resulted from widespread voter fraud. He has long called for tighter rules on voting by mail despite using the option himself — including for this month’s Florida primary.

Signed in March, Trump’s executive order would require states to impose stricter mail-in voting rules, such as ensuring ballot envelopes have unique bar codes for tracking. It also directed federal agencies to create a nationwide list of verified eligible voters.

Election law experts say the order violates the Constitution by attempting to seize the power to run elections from states.

The Supreme Court on Monday removed one judicial order blocking federal changes to states’ rules for voting by mail. However, a separate order that remains in place prevents U.S. Postal Service officials from moving forward with that plan or the 95-page so-called “final rule” the agency issued last week.

The final rule outlines how the Postal Service would comply with the order. But neither it nor the order can be implemented until all legal challenges are resolved, Lake County Clerk Anthony Vega said.

If the remaining obstacles to the changes were to disappear by Nov. 3, Vega expects new legal challenges will be filed “given that we are 70 days from Election Day.” Furthermore, vote-by-mail ballots are scheduled to begin going to Illinoisans in less than a month, on Sept. 24.

One new challenge materialized Wednesday when Illinois and 24 other states sued the Postal Service in an effort to stop the rules from being implemented.

Educating voters

Vega said his staff remains committed to educating voters about their ballot options ahead of Nov. 3 — and that includes voting by mail.

“If there are any changes, we will use every tool we have to educate voters on their options,” said Vega, a Democrat.

Cook County’s Gordon predicted challenges to the executive order would drag on “for many months to come” — well past the November election. Regardless, if new election rules go into effect this fall, Gordon said her team will work with their attorneys, state elections officials and other partners to determine what actions are required and adapt operations accordingly.

“Elections in Cook County are administered by experienced state and local election professionals,” Gordon said through her spokesperson. “Whatever comes our way, our job is to keep the process secure, orderly and accessible.”

Secure options

Meanwhile, eligible citizens interested in voting by mail still can request ballots and should return them early, Gordon said.

“Voters should not allow the headlines or the uncertainty surrounding this litigation to discourage them from participating,” Gordon said. “Voting by mail remains a secure and established voting option in Illinois, governed by law and protected by multiple safeguards throughout the process.”

If voters are concerned about returning ballots by mail, they can use drop boxes at any of the 56 early-voting locations in suburban Cook County, Gordon said. Those boxes have built-in surveillance technology, tamper-resistant construction and ballot-tracking abilities, she said.

Johnson said DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek, a Democrat who lost a bid for renomination earlier this year, “will vigorously resist any attempt to obstruct access to the ballot.”

That stance is shared by Gov. JB Pritzker, who this week said Illinois will continue administering elections “while fighting every attack on voter’s rights.”

“We are weeks away from voting in the midterms and the president is trying to put fear in Americans about the security of our elections, rewrite the rules and put the federal government between voters and their ballots,” Pritzker — a potential Democratic presidential candidate, frequent Trump critic and regular target of the president’s own verbal barbs — said in a prepared statement.

A spokesperson for Republican gubernatorial nominee Darren Bailey couldn’t be reached for comment.

rlissau@dailyherald.com