Illinois Republican Party Chairman Bob Grogan is calling for the resignation of a Democratic official in Waukegan after prosecutors alleged she submitted a vote-by-mail ballot belonging to her deceased mother during this year’s primary election.
The case involves Waukegan Alderwoman Sylvia Sims Bolton, who surrendered to authorities on Wednesday after being charged in connection with the alleged submission of her late mother’s ballot.
Prosecutors have filed two charges, including a Class 4 felony.
According to the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, a vote-by-mail ballot was issued for Mary Sims, Bolton’s mother, as part of the first batch of ballots mailed out by the Lake County Clerk’s Office in February.
Shortly thereafter, election officials received notification of Mary Sims’ death through the Illinois voter registration system and processed the cancellation of her voter registration.
While authorities say the ballot was identified before it was counted, the incident has reignited debate over election security, vote-by-mail procedures, and the effectiveness of safeguards designed to prevent ballots from being cast in the names of deceased voters.
According to prosecutors, after the ballot was allegedly deposited by Bolton in an official ballot drop box, it entered Lake County’s normal verification and security review process.
Election safeguards reportedly identified a discrepancy because the voter’s death had already been recorded and processed before the ballot was submitted.
That red flag triggered additional scrutiny by election officials and ultimately led to an investigation by the sheriff’s office.
Authorities say the investigation uncovered evidence that resulted in the charges now facing Bolton, Fox News reports.
“A dead person voting, that you’re actually aware that they’re dead, is the easiest voter fraud to find. It’s like somebody leaning over the cash register and grabbing the cash out of the till,” Grogan told Fox News Digital.
“But the complicated stuff, the behind-the-scenes stuff, that’s something that is harder to find … This is a one-off incident and if fraudsters do it right, it could be many, many more votes like this,” he added.
Jason Snead, an election integrity advocate and expert who runs the Honest Elections Project, noted further that the Bolton case “plainly shows that voter fraud occurs.”
“Mail ballots are especially vulnerable, which is why they should be secured, should never be mailed without a specific request from the voter, and should always be verified before they are tabulated,” he told Fox.
“This case also shows how essential it is to maintain clean voter rolls,” he said.
“Had the list maintenance process been slower, it is possible this illegal vote would have been counted before the fraud was discovered,” Snead continued.
“Unfortunately, too many states — particularly blue states — actively resist commonsense safeguards, which begs the question: how many other illegal votes have slipped through the system?” he asked.
According to a press release from the Lake County State’s Attorney’s Office, every vote-by-mail ballot envelope is screened through an automated review system designed to identify irregularities that may require additional scrutiny before a ballot can proceed through the counting process.
Election officials said the system is capable of flagging a wide range of potential issues, including unreadable barcodes, ballots submitted for the wrong election, previously rejected ballots, and ballots linked to voter registrations that have been canceled or otherwise deemed inactive.
The review process also examines less obvious indicators. Officials noted that envelopes can be flagged if they are unusually heavy or unusually light, conditions that could signal discrepancies requiring further investigation, Fox reported.
The investigation into Bolton, who represents Ward 1 in Waukegan, began in March. She turned herself in on Wednesday, as confirmed by a spokesperson for Rinehart’s office.
Bolton has been charged with one count of Mutilation of Election Material, a Class 4 felony, for allegedly knowingly falsifying election materials, as well as one count of Disregarding Election Code, which is a Class A misdemeanor.
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