Will County Gazette

Homer Township Supervior and Will County Board Member Steve Balich is calling on Schuyler County to rerun the Nov. 8 election after it was discovered early voter ballots left off the name of U.S. Senate GOP challenger Kathy Salvi.

“In my opinion Kathy Salvi got robbed of all those votes,” Balich told Will County Gazette. 

“And because she got robbed of all those votes that election should be redone in that county as the only way can be done to be redone. And if they don't like it too bad, but that could make a difference in the election. “I don't know how many people live there, but it's crazy that they'll admit her name and they put somebody else. What the heck? That is a fraud.” 

Salvi lost the race for U.S. Senate. 

Instead of Salvi, the error misidentified Peggy Hubbard as the GOP candidate for the U.S. Senate race versus Democrat incumbent Tammy Duckworth. Hubbard lost the June primary to Salvi who was her opponent on the ballot.

In all of his years in politics, state representative Brad Halbrook (R-Shelbyville) claimed that he had never come across a ballot error of the scale Salvi was subjected to. 

“I have never seen an error of this magnitude on a ballot. This is a serious mistake,” Halbrook told the Chambana Sun. 

“Absolutely, we should be concerned about this. It is not just the Senate race at stake here. Other races could be affected. What if there is a close local election? What if these ballots are determined to be invalid because of the error? There could be all kinds of repercussions from the mistake made on these ballots. There needs to be a viable solution to correct the error."

Balich's comments follow a 2022 election that was rife with mistakes and oversights. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), a state representative, questioned the DuPage County Clerk's methods and the court recently issued a temporary restraining order against her. "improperly using Vote by Mail applications to validate a voter's signature on a Vote by Mail ballot." 

Mazzochi brought up the court's decision noting "using a Vote by Mail application to qualify signatures on the Vote by Mail ballot itself would be an obvious way to commit ballot fraud."

A recent influx of late votes that altered the outcomes of three Will County races a week after the election is also fueling calls for election reform. 

On election night, Republican challenger Jim Reilly led Democratic incumbent Will County Sheriff Mike Kelley, Republican Joliet Attorney Bob Bodach trailed Democratic incumbent Treasurer Tim Brophy, and Republican opponent Raj Pillai trailed Democratic Associate Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre. 

Some questioned the timing of the Democrat vote rise after the November 8 election. 

“Over 6400 vote by mail votes dropped in Will County today. A full week after Election Day. Changing the results of multiple races. And people wonder why confidence in the system is being lost,” Safe Suburbs USA PAC said on Twitter. Ferry did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Will County Gazette.