Early voting to resume in DuPage County on Monday after delays, ballot issues
Early voting resumes on Monday in DuPage after a glitch that left one candidate off the ballot and a five-day delay to early voting.
The Downers Grove Village Hall should be open for early voting on Sunday, but the county clerk's office said they needed to take a two-day break because of court orders.
There are campaign signs covering the perimeter of the Downers Grove village hall, but one name is missing, and on the ballot under the 11th Congressional District for U.S. representative.
"It's unfortunate, but I had to go through a petition challenge," said Tedora Brown.
Brown was accused of gathering fake signatures to run for office. The DuPage County clerk was given a court order to take Brown's name off the ballot for not having enough signatures. However, Brown said that was never true.
"I fought my way all the way to the appellate court, where I made sure I was on that ballot," she said.
The appellate court on Friday overturned the original decision, forcing DuPage County to pause early voting and put Brown's name on the ballot. Before her name was included, over 740 people already voted early.
"All of those votes will still be counted," said Dupage County Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson.
Johnson said that's because they went by court orders they had at the time, adding that the root of the problem lies with the Illinois law.
"We would like the timeline for ballot objections to be resolved before the timeline for voting to begin," he said. "Right now, there is an overlap in those time periods, and we are caught in that overlap right now."
While DuPage took two days to correct their ballots, they hope the early voting rollercoaster does not deter voters.
"I hope that voters maintain trust in the process, we have been communicating directly as these delays and pauses have had to be implemented. However, it is certainly inconvenient for the voters and the election offices," Johnson said.
Early voting sites will open at 11 a.m. on Monday. Brown was on the ballot in other counties for the 11th Congressional District. The primary is set for March 17.
The county clerk said they print on demand, so they do not have to reprint ballots. They also have not printed mail-in ballots yet.