Madison County Clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza said she "owns" a mistake in which some voters' party preference is printed on labels of vote by mail (VBM) ballots - more than 30,000 of which have left her offce since Sept. 24.
But, Mendoza said on Tuesday, the mistake was not intentional. The software used in this year's election process is the same as it was in the 2016 General Election where a total of 10,000 VBM ballots were issued, she said, adding that the recent uproar is related to an election season that is "hyperbolic."
"We have never had 30,000 - that kind of volume before," she said.
Mendoza said accusations and insults have been hurled at her since she learned about the problem three or four days ago, and what upsets her more than hearing a call for her to be burned at the stake was hearing that she planned on throwing Republican ballots in the river.
"I am not going to do anything to damage the reputation of this office," she said.
Two of three envelopes involved with Madison County VBM ballots are flagged with a voter's "R" or "D" preference - the one outgoing from the Clerk's office and a certification envelope with ballot - but not the return envelope containing the certification that gets mailed back to the Clerk's office. Only voters who would have voted Republican or Democrat in the primary election would be flagged with an "R" or "D" on VBM envelopes.
Mendoza, a Democrat, said she is rectifying the situation by redacting the affiliation from outgoing labels as well as redacting certification envelopes so that when returned and counted election judges never see a voter's party preference.
Despite Mendoza's explanation, some Republicans say there there's plenty to be upset about.
Madison County Board Member Chris Guy (R-Maryville) released a statement Tuesday morning questioning the overall integrity of the county's absentee ballot program.
"I am very disappointed with the fact that thousands of ballots with this mistake are already in circulation," Guy said in a statement. "No General Election ballot in Illinois should ever have a voter’s party affiliation printed on the certification envelope and return envelope that is mailed to and from the election authority. If it wasn’t for multiple voters coming forward on this ballot error, I’m not sure how soon it would have been fixed moving forward as it has been 13 days since thousands of absentee ballots were mailed out.”
He said the number of ballots mailed which may include party affiliation is unknown at this time.
Guy said later in the day that he had spoken with Mendoza, who "was very open and honest about the clerical error and is working diligently to remedy the situation."
"I appreciate her cooperation as this is very important because if we have any close election in our county this November, and I expect we will, the election will come down to absentee ballots," Guy said. "This is why it is so important that we have good election judges and poll watchers working for us in Madison County."
Jayme Odom, executive director of the House Republican Organization, said ballot secrecy is a fundamental principle of the election process.
"If you're Republican or Democrat, this violation of ballot secrecy makes voters uncomfortable and should not occur."