(Editor’s note: This article has been updated to include additional information from charging documents)
Former Madison County Board member Gussie Glasper pleaded guilty on Monday to a criminal misdemeanor charge for disregarding the election code during the June 2022 primary election.
“[D]efendant knowingly did an act prohibited by the Election Code, in that said defendant assisted Earnest Ray Allen in completing a mail ballot without completing the affidavit and did so as a candidate whose name appeared on the ballot,” the charge states.
She was given 12 months of probation, ordered to complete 40 hours of public service and fined $739 for court costs and restitution.
Glasper is represented by former Madison County Public Defender John Rekowski.
Glasper, a Democrat, served on the county board for more than 19 years. She represented Madison, Venice, parts of Granite City, and Eagle Park Acres.
The case has been assigned to Associate Judge Janet Heflin.
It was originally assigned to Associate Judge Veronica Armouti, who recused herself.
After charges were filed against Glasper, a miscellaneous review (MR) case seeking a special prosecutor in an election fraud investigation was unsealed on Wednesday by Chief Judge Stephen Stobbs, according to court documents.
The motion for appointment of a special prosecutor was filed Aug. 18.
"A preliminary review indicated that the incidents described in this investigation involved, among others, a current Madison County Board Member as a possible suspect. Therefore, this case presents an actual conflict of interest for the Madison County State's Attorney's Office," Madison County State's Attorney Tom Haine wrote in the motion.
The case had been sealed by former Madison County Chief Judge Bill Mudge. He denied previous requests to unseal it saying that because the investigation was ongoing, unsealing it would not be appropriate.
State's Attorney Tom Haine asked for a special prosecutor for an investigation involving mail-in ballots for write-in candidates following the primary election. Haine sought outside assistance, claiming a conflict of interest existed with his office.
Mudge appointed the Illinois Attorney General’s Office to take over the investigation.
Former County Clerk Debbie Ming-Mendoza is the only public official in Madison County to confirm on the record that voter fraud was suspected when ballots were tabulated on primary election day.
Ming-Mendoz previously explained that a team of Republican and Democrat election judges raised concerns after discovering the same handwriting for write-in candidates while processing mail-in ballots in the Democrat primary election.
“It was the handwriting that drew their concerns,” she said.
Ming-Mendoza said that roughly 39 ballots were flagged and came from various precincts in Madison County, with most coming from Venice, which was within Glasper’s district. Court documents for Glasper's misdemeanor charges do not mention the other 38 ballots.
Ming-Mendoza previously said those ballots were not counted in the election totals.
She added that similar handwriting among ballots can be a normal occurrence, and wouldn’t immediately raise concerns if the voter indicated on the ballot card that he or she received assistance. However, she said the certification envelope for the ballots in question did not have any indication of assistance.
She said that after the election judges discovered the suspected fraudulent ballots, she immediately notified law enforcement.
“In my mind, the process worked,” Ming-Mendoza said in a previous interview. “The judges saw something that caused them concern. They notified me. I notified law enforcement.”
Ming-Mendoza did not specify who the write-in candidates were on the ballots in question.
While anyone can be written in regardless of candidacy, there were two official write-in candidates running on the Democratic ticket for circuit judge in Madison County.
Barry Julian and Ebony Huddleston ran as write-in candidates because their nominating petitions were rejected months before the primary by a county electoral board over dating errors. Their petitions indicated that their signatures were gathered on a start date of Jan. 13, 2022.
However, the Judicial Circuits Redistricting Act of 2022, which was supported in the legislature only by Democrats and signed into law by Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Jan. 7, 2022, established that petitions could not be circulated earlier than 15 days after enactment - or beginning Jan. 22, 2022.
Julian and Huddleston earned enough write-in votes to be placed on the General Election ballot but they lost to Republican candidates Amy Sholar and Christopher Threlkeld.