Countering Misinformation in the Local Media about Voting by Mail: Report on LWVCC Action

Below is a report on the LWVCC Taskforce on Misinformation About Elections. For more on this group, see their webpage on this site. Or click here to download the report.

The group countering misinformation about voting and elections has been keeping an eye on letters to the editor (LTE) in the News-Gazette. On April 11, 2021, we noticed one that may have undermined confidence in mail voting. Without providing any facts that such events have occurred in Illinois or elsewhere, the letter writer asserts drop boxes and remote mail boxes “could and eventually will” be vandalized. The writer then concludes that ballots would be stolen, thereby breaking the chain of custody for mail ballots. The letter goes on to conjure up the prospect that elections would have to be held again, incurring large costs and legal challenges:

• Ballot drop boxes not secure  The continued use of drop boxes for absentee ballots during an election could, and eventually will, result in disputed election results at the county level when they are vandalized and ballots stolen from them.
• Whenever the boxes are broken into, no one will know how many ballots were taken, who may have deposited ballots at that box that day, and how they may have been cast. 
• It will not be legally possible for the election authorities to try and reconstruct what ballots may have been taken.
• The chain-of-custody procedure that the election authorities rigidly follow in the polling place is being grossly violated when ballots are left at an unmonitored site.
• Basically, absentee ballots left at remote Postal Service collection boxes are also violating the chain-of-custody procedures. The legal resolution of misdirected absentee ballots will be the requirement that the election authority re-run the election, which could be quite expensive and itself be subject to legal challenges.

 
Our team thought this LTE writer might have been misinformed or was not aware of mail voting security procedures. We wanted to provide that information to the writer and to the public.
 
Step 1: Get the Facts
 We emailed our contact in the County Clerk’s office, who outlined the security procedures that this office follows: 

• The drop boxes in Champaign County are secured in the ground and anchored by concrete. They are reinforced and made with quarter inch steel. The drop boxes vary in size and weigh between 250 and 500 lbs.
• They are designed to detour tampering, including a small slot that will only allow for ballots. There are locking security features as well when the drop boxes are closed.
• The drop boxes have cameras on them and are in accessible locations.
• The Election Authority is required to follow a strict chain of custody when ballots are retrieved and brought back to the building for processing. This includes monitoring the routes, a Republican and Democratic election judge as the representatives picking them up. Ballots are secured and sealed in drop box bags to ensure no tampering. Once the vote by mail ballots make their way back, the ballots are weighed and seal numbers are verified.
• Ballots are never left at the postal place unattended. They are locked and secured. Election mail is a priority and sorted accordingly by the US Postal Service. They did an excellent job monitoring and reporting daily on vote by mail status for Champaign County. We know other election authorities had similar positive experiences.
• Furthermore, ballots on site at the Election Authority are never unattended or unsecured. The chain of custody is followed according to statute when processing vote by mail. These are all carried out by Republican and Democratic election judges. There are also security cameras all over the Clerk’s office in the election processing room and vote by mail processing room.
• There were no security issues at all during the November/April elections. There were no tampering issues during the November/April elections. There were no legal challenges of any kind for vote by mail during the November/April elections.
• As far as tracking, the voter registration program will know the scope of ballots that have been sent out and are coming back and we would be able to reach out to those voters in the event that something ever happened.

 
Step 2: Use the Facts to Respond
Using this information, members of the group honed a response. Our letter presented authoritative information, presented calmly and clearly. We couched the letter as an effort of the League to provide the community with solid information about the issue. We submitted it over Trisha Crowley’s signature as League president. The LTE appeared in the News-Gazette on June 6.
 
           
Voting by mail is safe, secure

•  In response to an April Letter to the Editor, the League of Women Voters of Champaign County reached out to the county clerk’s office to learn more about measures that ensure the reliability of voting by mail.
• The county installed and used ballot drop boxes for the first time last year. According to the clerk’s office, drop-box design ensures optimum security. All permanent drop boxes in Champaign County are anchored in concrete, reinforced with quarter-inch steel and weigh between 250 and 500 pounds.
• A narrow slot allows for the insertion of ballots but nothing larger. The box is sealed to prevent the insertion of ballots outside of voting hours. All permanent drop boxes are monitored by security cameras and are in highly visible locations.
• Ballot transfer is closely guarded. Two trained election judges — one Republican, one Democrat — retrieve the ballots and must follow predetermined routes. For transport, ballots are weighed, secured and sealed in tamper-proof bags. Upon arrival at the clerk’s office, the ballots are again weighed and seal numbers are verified.

• Ballots mailed through the postal service are subjected to equally meticulous security. The chain of custody is dictated by state statute and done in the presence of both Republican and Democratic judges. Security cameras monitor every step.
• The clerk’s office reports no security or tampering issues during either the November 2020 or April 2021 elections. No legal challenges regarding mail ballots were filed for either.

 
Our letter leveraged the League’s reputation as a nonpartisan, trustworthy source of information in order to debunk charges that could undermine confidence in election procedures that include voting by mail.
 
Our group continues to pursue this method of countering misinformation in the local media. Let us know if you see something in the paper, on the internet, or in social media. It is important to reply to both misinformation and deliberate disinformation and not let them circulate unchallenged.

More information about the Misinformation About Elections Task Force.