PEKIN, Ill. – Tazewell County’s Clerk says a recent audit found cases of double voting in November’s presidential election.
County Clerk John Ackerman announced at a press conference on Thursday that two cases of double voting were discovered.
Ackerman says in the case of “Voter A,” an 86-year-old female from Tremont, she early voted on the weekend of October 18th, then voted against on Election Day. He says, in that case, there was no stamp on Election Day to indicate that she already voted.
For “Voter B,” a 66-year-old male from East Peoria, he had submitted a vote-by-mail ballot, then voted at his precinct in Groveland Township. Ackerman says there was a stamp that showed he had already voted, and election judges did not catch it.
Ackerman says evidence was found in December of the double votes, and an investigation was conducted. He says there were no charges filed because it was determined there was no malicious intent by the voters.
Ackerman says that even though no charges were filed, he wanted it to bring it to the public’s attention to dispel some myths about voting.
“One myth is that double voting never occurs, and the other myth is that 80 million people double vote,” Ackerman said. “Neither are accurate. The truth, as often is the case, lies in between.”
Ackerman says, in the cases of November’s election, the most likely reasoning is human error. He says there was a heavy workload on that Election Day, with around 75% turnout overall. In addition, he says there was a high number of people signing up to vote for the first time, which added more to the workload.
Ackerman did note that of nearly 69,000 votes in November, only two were flagged for double votes.
One of the reasons for bringing the information forward was to show transparency with the voting system, and to build confidence in the process.
“If I tell you you will get caught, and then I don’t show you that people don’t get caught, you can’t be perfect every time. There is human error. We have to acknowledge that, we have to showcase that,” Ackerman said.
Ackerman says a review of April’s consolidated elections currently shows that there were no double votes.
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