FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

 

Will My Vote Count in 2012? Explosive report on the security of Chicago elections.

 

Chicago Illinois, July 22, 2011: "Vote early and vote often" is the infamous phrase attributed to Chicago elections going back to the days of William Hale Thompson, mayor of Chicago from 1915 to 1923 and again from 1927 to 1931.

 

"Will my vote count?" That is the question teams of pollwatchers set out to answer during the first ever citizen-run security assessment of the Chicago Board of Election's processes and procedures.   On April 5^th, 2011 - Election Day for the municipal runoff elections - 239 precincts were evaluated according to the CBE's security procedures.  215 of these (90%) failed in at least one of 11 security procedures, and most of them failed in more than one area.  Incredibly, 139 (59%) did not secure the ballot box to the ballot scanning device!

 

On Thursday, July 28^th (5-7pm) at the Chicago Union League Club, we will release this explosive report!  The report outlines severe lapses in security around the seals that protect memory devices on election equipment.

 

Besides Election Day procedures, we will discuss how the Chicago Board employs non-citizens to run some early voting sites in Chicago. In addition, the CBE is non-compliant in Federal I-9 regulations for identifying the legal status of workers operating polling places for early voting.  Hundreds of 1-9's of these employees do not identify their legal right to work.  Why are these forms not filled out correctly?  If the CBE cannot get the simple I-9 forms filled out, how effective are they in maintaining secure elections?

 

The results of this audit of Chicago elections has inspired Defend the Vote, along with various Tea Party groups, to work with voters across Illinois to launch the first citizen-driven security assessment of voting processes across the State's 110 election districts.

 

We frequently do not get to ask "if" our vote was tampered with.  How can we assess vulnerabilities when there is no data collected by election officials?  Security procedures for elections remain largely unavailable to the public.  Defend the Vote and the groups joining us aim to change that before the 2012 November election.

 

On Primary Day in March 2012, thousands of voters across Illinois will conduct a statewide security audit of election processes and procedures at their polling place.  While a portion of the audit will look at Election Day procedures, the entire process of elections in Illinois will be assessed, including early voting, absentee voting, nursing home voting, warehouse storage, and inventory and shipping procedures.  Security measures around the machines and their memory devices will be reviewed and documented as part of a system-wide vulnerability assessment.

 

For too long, voters in Illinois have uttered the phrase we are infamous for "vote early and vote often."  In 2012 voters across the state of Illinois will step up to hold their local election authorities accountable for holding honest and transparent elections.

 

Join us on July 28^th to learn more!

 

Contact: Defend the Vote - Empowering Citizens to Protect Elections

847-382-1100  Sharon@defendthevote.com

"I am an active supporter of Defend the Vote and encourage voters and groups across the state to continue the investigation by joining in the first citizen-run audit of Illinois elections." Jack Roeser - Chairman of Otto Engineering and President of the Family Taxpayers Foundation.