Freedom of Information Act request Denied

In the infinite wisdom of the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners ("Board"), they have decided to deny the request for information relating to the Absentee Vote Applications and Ballot envelopes.  We can only guess that they didn't want to get caught - again.  After you read all this you'll understand what we mean.

Here are some facts:

In the past, several precinct captains encouraged people to vote absentee.  In fact, many tell the voter they would do a favor for the voter and get the absentee voter application from the Board.  They would then hand-deliver the application and even help the voter fill it out.  After it was filled out they would take it downtown to the Board, at their convenience, so that the Board could mail the Absentee Ballot.  The submitting of these Absentee Applications was strategically planned.  Most of them are submitted only a few days to a week before the election, but within the timeframe for submitting the application.

Of course, even though the Absentee Voter Application has a place for the precinct captain to sign, (actually a place for anyone who helped the voter fill out the application) very few voters request that the precinct captain actually sign or even know about this, even though it is clearly in black and white on the application.  Thus, there is in practice, no "fingerprints" on the application that can connect the precinct captain to any involvement with the voter.

Since the precinct captain knew when she/he submitted it, he knew approximately when the voter would receive the Absentee Ballot.  Thus, she/he could actually schedule a visit to the voter.  Why?  To help them fill it out!  Although the vote is supposed to be private, by law, the practical application of the law is something else.

The precinct captain would then offer to take the ballot downtown, again doing a favor for the voter.

As a candidate, you are open to contesting of your petition.  This is usually expressed as filing an objection to a petition.  All the information contained within a petition is subject to review.  This is indeed how it should be.

Unfortunately, as a candidate or public-at-large, you are not allowed to view any Absentee Voter Applications during any period of the entire election process or after.  Please read that again to make sure that you understand it.  There are ramifications:

1.  It is assumed that as an authority, as defined in the Illinois Complied Statutes and/or the Constitution of the State of Illinois, that the Board maintains an updated list of all the voters.  We have proof that this is not the case.  In fact, we are still waiting on a reply from the Board to a 15 page letter that was submitted asking for an explanation of why there was a discrepancy in the voter count, as found in the Official Election Results, and the datasets we were given on three separate occasions.  It's not just a few voters either.  How does more than 20,000 voters sound to you?
   
2.  The Board relies upon the US Postal Service to do their work for them.  Although the law has changed over the years to allow this type of activity, the fact of the matter is that literally thousands of voter registration cards never get returned to the Board and are simply left at the doorstep of the house they are mailed to (actually they are left in the mailbox).  Fact:  In the 3rd Representative District of the State of Illinois, there are very few homes that have a name posted on the mailbox.  This is a violation of Postal Regulations but the Post Office does not seem to enforce this regulation.  Also, this allows the Board a "way out" from doing the job they are supposed to do.  It's called a canvas.  The last time the Board canvassed our area was more than 25 years ago.
   
3.  Although this is third in the listing, it might be considered as a number one in some people's book.  There is no "checks and balance" of anything in regards to the Absentee Vote.  Democracy, or at least our version of it, in theory relies heavily on a check and balance system.  At the Federal level, the checks and balances are the President's Office, the Congress and the Supreme Court.  In Chicago, the Board takes its directives from Daley (the head of the Board is a Daley appointee (crony)), the Governor, and a Republican thrown in to make it look like there is representation from both parties.  It's all smoke and mirrors to give the illusion that there is democracy in this city.  By denying the copying or viewing to confirm accuracy of the Absentee Voter Application is to deny a process that incorporates a check and balance system of the very same democracy we all strive to protect.
   
4.  Nearly everyone that works for the Board is politically connected to some Alderman or other politician.  It is perhaps the most corrupt organization that is supposed to guarantee what we call "Fair Elections."  The Federal government needs to clean up this Board and if necessary, indict and prosecute its members/workers.
   
5.  The training of judges of election deal more with the mechanics of operating the machines than what to watch for in and around the polling place.  Numerous violations have been reported to the Board, most of which "accidently on purpose" disappear.  Several years ago Wayne made a recommendation to the Board that a software package be created that allows for the input of data by "Election Central" so that reports can be generated after the election for analysis.  The recommendation fell on deft ears.
   
6. The Board has an investigative unit.  This unit needs an upgrade.  Over the last 10 years information was sent to this unit but nothing was ever done.  Evidence, in the form of pictures, were submitted.  Again, nothing was done.  What a waste of taxpayer money!  Who's the clout behind this unit?

These are but six things that need addressing and/or fixing.  There are others.

If you know of any violations then do not hesitate to email Wayne.

Wayne believes in fair elections.  Everyone should have an equal opportunity and chance at winning an election.  The Board handed him inaccurate maps, bogus voter data, lost complaints that were called in to Election Central and refuses to allow him to look at the Absentee Ballot Applications.  We can only guess that they are afraid he will again create a database, analysis the data, and come up with many recommendations that intersect with the recommendations of the past.  In other words, they're afraid of getting caught and accused of not doing their job.

For related information click on one of the following links:
Analysis of Data Received,
Conclusions and Tables,
Recommendations,
View the Data/Reports.

 

 

Highlights...

Many would say that the elections in Chicago are rigged.  Incumbents have an unfair advantage in that the Early Voting period allows:

Locations that cannot be manned by any volunteers for an opponent simply because the number of volunteers and number of days required is way beyond the resources any opponent would have available,

Most incumbents at the local level of politics, namely Aldermen, are also the Ward Committeemen for the Ward and as such, recommend (make that appoint because the Board just rubber stamps their recommendation) judges of election.  In other words, the judges are in their pockets.

Incumbent has the advantage of name recognition and the opponent has very little time after getting on the ballot to make his name known.

City employees are utilized at will to perform election activity; sometimes while on the job (a violation of city rules).  The opponent generally does not have this luxury.

So when they talk about "Fair Elections," which is something they try to avoid talking about, they are talking about that ideal land that doesn't exist anywhere in the City of Chicago.