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Lake County Clerk calls Election Day lawsuit ‘extraordinary takeover’

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Outgoing Lake County Clerk Willard Helander said Wednesday that an Election Day order forcing five polling places to stay open until 9 p.m. “was an extraordinary takeover of the election.”

The extended voting window at grace registration sites came after a lawsuit filed by Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan. One of the complaints related to voters who previously requested absentee ballots but then decided to vote in person.

Madigan’s second complaint alleges that Helander was denying voters a chance to cast ballots because grace registration and same-day voting didn’t open until 10 a.m. at five county sites, even though the polls were open from 6 a.m. to 7 p.m. Madigan said the grace sites should have been operating those same hours.

“The 10 a.m. opening time was in a legal notice that was published 10 to 15 days before the election. This [lawsuit] was a reaction at the end of an Election Day by individuals that need more votes in the bank,” Helander said, referring to Democrats.

She was unsure how many people the situation affected, though lines were long at five county-wide grace period voting sites through 9 p.m. The provisional ballots from those same-day registered voters have yet to be counted, Helander added, noting there is a 14-day time limit to count the votes.

According to Helander, the lawsuit and ruling by Lake County Circuit Judge Mitchell Hoffman should be reviewed by a higher court because the decisions appeared to rely on election laws that are decades old.

“In the 11th hour [Judge Hoffman] ruled the procedures illegal when they have been in place for 10 years and didn’t offend anyone,” Helander said.

Late or grace registration started in 2006 and was extended a number of times closer to Election Day. This year, same-day registration was allowed on Election Day at the five Lake County sites.

Helander expressed concern that less strict voting laws could lead to more voter fraud.

“It’s really concerning,” she said. ”I’m so glad I am retiring. I want nothing to do [with the process].”

At the grace period polling place in Libertyville, there were more than 60 people in line less than hour after the polls closed. Some of them said they showed up because their polling place had closed before they could get to it, and they were told they could not vote.

Michael Benson, 54, of Long Grove, drove his 19-year-old daughter Grace to vote. The drive took 40 minutes and they waited more than two additional hours for her to register and vote.

“It’s a good thing, it’s nice. It’s her first time voting and it’s important to us,” Michael Benson said.

Grace was all smiles after voting.

“I thought I couldn’t get registered before. It was real exciting,” she said.

State Rep. Jack Franks, a Democrat from Marengo, was there as a poll watcher.

“I’m disappointed. I think this was done deliberately to keep the vote down,” he said. “Look at the young people in line. Those people tend to be Democratic, young and minorities.” he said.

Zara Anderson, 18, of Mundelein, said the two hours and 15 minutes she waited “was a long time, but it was worth it.” She also was voting for the first time.

“I’ve been looking forward to it,” the self-described Democrat said.

The benefit of waiting in line so long was that the group became friends, Anderson said. One woman said it was her father’s birthday, so everyone sang to him.

“It was kind of fun,” Anderson said.

The woman whose father was celebrating a birthday was Michelle Naffziger-Hirsch, 36, of Lake Forest.

“We just moved from Chicago,” she said, explaining why she needed to re-register.

At about 8:30 p.m., the 40 or so people still in line were treated to water and chips by a volunteer, who told stragglers that if they were in line at 9 p.m. they would be able to register and vote.

Officials at that site started the day at 4 a.m. and didn’t finish until about 10:30 p.m., Helander said.


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