East St. Louis Township Supervisor lives with 32 other people at his registered address

To the Editor:

As of the 2000 Census, the average household size in St. Clair County was 2.59 and the average family size was 3.13. On average we would see two to three voters in each household. What about when we see 15 or even 33? Shouldn't this alone be enough of a reason for the red flag to go up amongst local, state, and federal election authorities and attorney generals?

After reviewing results from the April 2011 election, the East St. Louis Alliance noted some interesting multi-voter households. In East St. Louis, we have 546 households with six or more registered voters and 22 with over 10.

For instance, Oliver Hamilton, our current East St. Louis Township Supervisor, lives with 32 other people at his registered address in Precinct 2. He is also the precinct committeeman and 13 of these 33 registered voters (29 men and 4 women) actually voted in the general election. Are we supposed to believe that 13 adults are really living in the same house? Or, that Mr. Hamilton actually lives there too?

These 546 suspect households represent 3,972 voters if they all voted at one time. This would be more than enough to win most recent elections in East St. Louis. Are East St. Louis residents really determining our own elections?

Please call your state elected officials and let them know that we need Election Code Reform now to stop over-registration in Illinois, especially in East St. Louis.

Matt Hawkins, President
East St. Louis Alliance for Change