Letter: Lawsuit on mail ballots is attempt to suppress votes

State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi has taken a page out of the Republican election deniers playbook to challenge mail-in ballot counting in DuPage County. It is happening all over the country. If results aren't going your way, accuse the voters who use this method of voting of fraud.

Make no mistake about it, the lawsuit she filed against DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to halt the counting of mail-in votes is against the voters using mail in ballots. Quoting Judge James Orel's ruling, he said use of a vote - by-mail application to validate signatures on the vote-by-mail ballot itself "would be an obvious way to commit ballot fraud."

Who is committing ballot fraud and how are they doing it? To imply that voters are requesting ballots in other voters' names, receiving those ballots and voting in place of other voters is preposterous. Also, the vote-by-mail process has been overseen by County Clerk Kaczmarek for the 2020 primary election, the 2020 General election and the 2022 primary election already, presumably without challenges to the signature verification system.

The signatures on vote-by-mail applications are verified by two judges, one from each party, by comparing to the voter's latest voter registration. I haven't had to re-register in 33 years and I suspect my signature on my VBM application might look a little different now. But, it was accepted and I received a ballot.

If my signature on the ballot envelope looks a little different from my voter registration, why can't judges look at my application for a VBM ballot? That is the signature they used when they sent my ballot. This lawsuit calls into question the integrity and honesty of the election workers.

It is fairly obvious that Republicans don't want every vote counted when they are losing. This is voter suppression.

Diane Niesman

Wheaton