SPRINGFIELD – State Rep. Patrick Windhorst (R-Metropolis) voted in opposition to a massive overhaul of Illinois’ mail-in ballot program proposed by House Democrats and Governor JB Pritzker on Thursday during the 2nd day of a Special Legislative Session held at the Bank of Springfield Center amid the COVID-19 crisis.
“I have received an enormous amount of feedback from my constituents opposing the Democrats’ expansion of Illinois’ vote by mail program,” Windhorst said. “Illinois law already allows for any voter to request a mail-in ballot for any reason. Folks I am hearing from are worried that under this sweeping plan, voter fraud will increase exponentially. I share those concerns. I also believe that our county clerks will be faced with a significant burden as far as cost and manpower are required under the bill.”
Windhorst says a long House floor debate revealed several flaws with the Democrats’ vote by mail expansion.
“During debate on this legislation we learned that the bill allows for ‘vote drop boxes’ to be placed in voting districts. My colleagues brought up many concerns about the safety and the integrity of the ballots that would potentially be placed in these locations. Other concerns that were brought up included ballot harvesting and ballot stuffing. These are serious concerns that were not adequately addressed in either the bill or in the debate.”Windhorst says the fate of the bill rests with the Illinois Senate.
“We pointed out many flaws with this massive vote by mail expansion,” Windhorst said. “This was a rush job, no doubt. I am hoping that the Senate can make amendments to this legislation to address many serious problems that exist in the bill.”