McLean County's top election official joined more than two dozen others across the state this week to reassure Illinois voters ahead of the 2024 presidential primary that elections — and their results — are fair and secure.
Kathy Michael joined officials from 25 counties in a series of news conferences Tuesday in Tazewell, McLean and LaSalle counties.
Speaking to members of the public and media at the Government Center, Michael said disinformation and outright falsehoods about the electoral process have been on the rise since 2016.
Now, ahead of the 2024 election cycle, Michael said some election judges — paid workers who manage precinct polling places and assist voters on election day — have begun to question their safety.
"I think it's starting to be a little bit of a concern," she said, adding her office contacts police ahead of time to request police presence or drive-bys on certain days. "And we just hope and pray. This is how we're going to get ahead of it: By working with our great police officers who are going to do extra duty during election time."
Some of the election officials described misinformation they have encountered in recent elections, including accusations that voting machines had been rigged or that tabulation machines had been hacked, and social media rumors that certain polling places were closing early or had run out of ballots.
“So we actually have social media monitors that we hire on Election Day, and even before, and they try to watch as many as possible — you can’t watch them all — and see if something comes up so we can get ahead of them, whether it's Reddit or Facebook or whatever,” Michael said.
State Board of Elections spokesperson Matt Dietrich said misinformation campaigns not only hinder election officials in performing their jobs, but they also erode public confidence in the integrity of the election system.
“Whether it's false rumors on social media about Sharpie markers, or more serious but equally untrue allegations about manipulation of voting equipment, we in the election community are working hard to debunk these attacks,” he said. “We're starting here now, well before the 2024 primary.”
Michael said anyone who has questions or concerns about voting equipment or election procedures should simply contact her office directly — or, if located elsewhere, their local election authority.
And for a close-up view of the electoral process in action, Michael encouraged people to consider signing up to be an election judge.
"I think we all agree here that we are always in need of election judges," she said. "Even with the disinformation, they get kind of like us and they say, 'Really? Well we're going to show you that that's not true here in Illinois.'"
Capitol News Illinois contributed to this report.
