IL advocates warn permanent mail-in ballots could be exploited

By Catrina Barker | The Center Square contributor
The Center Square

(The Center Square) – Illinois election integrity advocates are raising concerns about the state’s permanent mail-in ballot program in the wake of a voter fraud case in Washington state, where a Pasco apartment manager faces multiple felony charges for forging and submitting four former tenants’ 2024 ballots, three of which were counted.

Carol Davis, chairman of the Illinois Conservative Union and a longtime election integrity advocate, called the Washington case a “chilling” example of how mail-in voting can be exploited.

“The only reason this was caught is because one of the voters actually went and voted, creating a double vote under this woman’s name,” Davis told TCS. “Otherwise, the election office signature checks, which are supposed to be our last line of defense, missed three out of four ballots.”

Davis noted that Illinois, unlike Washington and Oregon, does not automatically mail ballots to every registered voter.

“We aren’t a total universal vote-by-mail state yet, but the push for permanent ballots is essentially the first step toward that,” she said.

Davis discourages Illinois residents from opting into permanent mail-in ballots, warning legislators may use widespread enrollment as justification to eliminate polling places entirely.

“The more people they can get to sign up for permanent ballots, they’ll just run down to Springfield and say, ‘Look at all these voters on mail-in ballots. Let’s make this universal,’” she said.

In Illinois, voters can join the Permanent Vote-by-Mail program to automatically receive a mail-in ballot for every election until they opt out or change their registration.

Davis highlighted Illinois’ permissive ballot collection laws, which she said are “even looser than California’s.”

“In Illinois, there’s no restriction on how long someone can hold ballots they’ve collected, and there’s no limit to the number of ballots a person can turn in,” Davis said.

Davis compared Illinois’ risks to the Pasco case and tied the concern to voter roll maintenance.

“Section 8 of the National Voter Registration Act requires states to maintain clean and accurate voter rolls,” she said. “Illinois has an estimated 800,000 ineligible voters who should be removed from the rolls. Until that happens, permanent mail-in ballots create unnecessary risk.”

Davis said Washington’s neighbor state, Oregon, announced on Jan. 9 that it will clean its voter rolls, removing an estimated 800,000 names.

“The Washington fraud case happened because it’s a universal vote-by-mail state, sending ballots to everyone on the rolls,” said Davis. “States need to follow Section 8 of the NVRA and do what the Department of Justice requires, maintain accurate voter rolls. That’s what prevents cases like this.”