SPRINGFIELD – I dropped by my local courthouse Monday and voted early.
Before stepping into the county clerk’s office, armed sheriff’s deputies had me empty my pockets and step through a metal detector.
After I entered the Sangamon County Clerk’s office, a cheerful worker told me I didn’t need any identification to vote early this year.
Hmmm, they don’t trust the public to enter a public building unarmed, but when it comes to voting they’ll take anyone’s word at face value.
This year – and for this election only – the Illinois General Assembly has suspended safeguards the state has in place to prevent voter fraud.
For example, now you can register to vote at the same time you vote.
An ID is required for registration though.
But a photo ID, such as a driver’s license, is no longer required to vote early.
So as I was standing at the clerk’s desk waiting for a ballot I couldn’t help but wonder: How do they know I’m Scott Reeder?
Seriously, anyone could walk off the street, claim to be me and cast a vote on my behalf.
Or for that matter, it could happen to you.
According to the U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics, 16.6 million Americans experienced identity theft in 2012.
Usually identity thieves are creeps trying to steal money.
But is it too big a stretch to think someone might try to steal an election?
No, it’s not a stretch says Hans A. von Spakovsky, a senior legal fellow for the Heritage Foundation and a national expert in election law.
“Illinois has a long and notorious history of voter fraud and these changes they are making make absolutely no sense given that history,” he said.
After all, there is nothing more important in a democracy than the integrity of our elections.
Nothing.
During the waning hours of the 2014 legislative session, Democratic lawmakers pushed through changes in voting procedures – for this election only.
Von Spakovsky said in the decades he’s studied elections nationally, he’s never encountered a state that changed the law for one election only.
“There is only one reason they would do that – they think it will benefit their candidates. This isn’t about trying to make the election fairer. It’s about trying to help one side over another. You can’t get a marriage license without an ID. You can’t get welfare benefits without an ID. But hey you can vote.”
Von Spakovsky noted in the 1982 Illinois gubernatorial race between James R. Thompson and Adlai Stevenson III, Thompson’s margin of victory was about 5,000 votes. The U.S. Attorney for Northern Illinois at the time investigated the election and estimated 100,000 votes were fraudulently cast, he said.
That’s hardly ancient history.
Voters deserve to have confidence in elections. Without that, the legitimacy of those who govern evaporates.
And we deserve to have faith that those who govern were actually elected.
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Scott Reeder is the Executive Editor of the Illinois News Network, a project of the Illinois Policy Institute. Scott joined INN after more than 25 years covering local and state government. He made a national name for himself investigating teacher tenure in Illinois and the lack of accountability in the teacher certification process.
Scott previously served as a national managing editor for the Franklin Center for Government and Public Integrity, where he worked to establish a national network of statehouse bureaus. Prior to his time with Franklin, he ran an Illinois statehouse bureau for 10 years providing customized statehouse coverage for newspapers in five Illinois communities.
Among the journalism awards he has captured are the Investigative Reporters and Editors Freedom of the Information Award, the Clark Mollenhoff Award for Excellence in Investigative Reporting and the John Aubuchon Freedom of Information Award, which is the highest honor of Capitolbeat, a national association of statehouse journalists.
He received his bachelor’s in journalism from Iowa State University and holds a master’s degree in public affairs reporting from the University of Illinois at Springfield. He and his wife, Joan, reside near Springfield and have three daughters: Grace, Anna and Caitlin.
