Illinois Schuyler County Errant Ballots Challenge

Lawsuit filed by Kathy Salvi — a Republican candidate for U.S. Senate — and an Illinois voter against the Schuyler County clerk challenging the counting of “errant” ballots (in this case, ballots that listed the name Peggy Hubbard, a candidate who lost in the state’s Republican primary but whose name was improperly listed as the Republican Senate candidate instead of Salvi’s). The plaintiffs claim that, by the time the clerk’s office realized the mistake on the ballots and began printing corrected ballots (on either Oct. 12 or Oct. 13), “forty-five (45) voters had cast ballots in-person in the Clerk’s office using the Errant Ballot. As well, by this time, on information and belief, one hundred fifty-four (154) Errant [mail-in] Ballots had been returned to the Clerk’s office but had yet to be processed.” The plaintiffs further argue that the clerk intends to count all the votes cast for Democratic and Libertarian candidates but “not count any votes for the Republican nominee.” Moreover, the plaintiffs allege that the clerk has not taken the necessary actions to rectify this mistake, which the plaintiffs claim should require the clerk to “contact the Schuyler County voters who cast Errant Ballots in-person during Early Voting and to permit those voters to (1) cast their votes for the certified United States Senate candidate of their choice; or (2) cast new, corrected ballots altogether.” The plaintiffs request a judgment stating that the clerk’s actions violate Illinois law and an order blocking the clerk from counting “any vote for U.S. Senate that was made on an Errant Ballot.” Additionally, the plaintiffs ask for an order directing the clerk to have all election officials contact the individuals who received errant ballots and allow them to cast new ones, to provide the court with a list of individuals impacted by the error and to require the clerk to sequester and keep all errant ballots. On Nov. 10, the plaintiffs voluntarily dismissed the lawsuit.

Last updated: November 11, 2022 11:55 am EST