HARDIN CO.—The reports of ballot confusion in Hardin County last night were met with swift response by the county’s new prosecutor, Tara Wallace.
Wallace just issued the following in the form of a press release, explaining what her investigation into the matter showed, and what the results mean for the county and the Consolidate Election 2013.
In the consolidated election which was held on April 9, 2013, several questions were posed to the voters. The unincorporated areas of the county received ballots which listed the following: candidates for the Hardin County K-12 School Board, candidates for Southeastern Illinois College Board of Trustees, candidates for the Regional Board of Education and a proposition as to whether or not to impose a 1% public safety tax. The incorporated areas of the county received ballots which listed the following: candidates for the Hardin County K-12 School Board, candidates for Southeastern Illinois College Trustees, candidates for the Regional Board of Education, a proposition as to whether or not to impose a 1% public safety tax, and the positions of Mayor, Commissioners, Village President, Trustees, and Clerk depending on the type of government that each municipality has.
The judges at each polling place are assigned the responsibility of making sure the voters have the correct ballot. Unfortunately, at the Rosiclare polling place, due to human error, six individuals were given the incorporated ballot (001) when they should have received an unincorporated ballot (004). As of today’s date, the State’s Attorney, Tara Wallace, has not been advised of wrong ballots being distributed at any other polling place (Stone Church, Monroe, McFarlan, Cave-In-Rock and Rock Creek).
The Rosiclare election results based on votes cast at the Rosiclare precinct on election day were as follows:
Mayor: Roy Tolbert -206; James Warren-121.
Commissioners: Bryan Stone-216; Roger Brazell-169; Brett Oxford-156; Ricky Williams-150; Robert Winchester-133; Margo Stoker-128; Wesley Atkinson-120; Donald Lane-53; and Waylon Hayden-34.
Therefore, six votes would not make a difference in the outcome of the city election.
Tara Wallace contacted the Illinois State Board of Elections and reported the mistake and legal counsel concurred with Mrs. Wallace’s opinion that there was no impropriety; the mistake was due to human error. The State Board of Elections relayed to the State’s Attorney that this kind of mistake is not unusual, that they appreciated the due diligence of the State’s Attorney and now it was up to the candidates as to whether they wanted to explore the options available to them.
State’s Attorney Tara Wallace would like to thank County Clerk, Jill Cowsert, and her office for their cooperation and assistance in rectifying the situation in a speedy and just manner.
Wallace would like to add: “I would also like to thank all of the election judges in every precinct. They have a lot of responsibilities on election day and obviously their training cannot address every situation which is presented to them. “