Yingling: Illegal Electioneering?

After several reports of a large check style poster at the Avon Township building, where early voting is taking place, I went there today to see for myself. The following are the pictures taken inside the lobby just after 10am on 10/29/2012. As the pictures show, electioneering is not allowed passed the sidewalk outside the building and this poster was inside the building, well beyond the electioneering cones.

As you can see from the poster itself it includes Sam Yingling's name twice along with the words:

Campaign promise made

Campaign promise kept

When I asked election judges if there had been any complaints about the sign, they stated No. Thomas B. also stated it was authorized because it was Yingling's work place and was fine as long as Yingling wasn't there. They had confirmed this with the County Clerk. The other election judges concurred with that assessment. Their names were Larisa, David and Pat. Note: The judges would not allow me to record the interview.  

The election judges were not telling me the truth about not having any complaints. I had received 2 complaints on Saturday about this poster, thus the reason I wanted to verify it's existence. In the morning I received a call from Shawn. He had just voted, saw the sign and complained to the election judge. The judge removed the sign. I confirmed this by driving over to the Avon Township building myself.  

Later that afternoon I received another complaint from Ron and his wife. They had voted earlier in the week. They too had complained, yet the signed remained up. They contacted the County Clerk's office and were told it was acceptable. They were directed to the State's Attorney Office. When they contacted them, they were redirected back to the County Clerk. I was in contact with this couple tonight and have given them the name of the correct person at the State's Attorney office for complaints.  

I contacted the County Clerk's Office and spoke with Stacy. She said the sign was part of the normal office procedures and could remain up. If I wanted a further ruling I would need to contact the State's Attorney Office. When I contacted the SA office I was directed back to the County Clerk instead. This time I spoke directly with County Clerk Willard Hellander. She told me the poster had been up for 9-10 months and since it had been there so long it was part of the normal office fixtures. She directed me to the Steve Sandvoss at the State Board of Elections. Note: 9-10 months means this poster was up during the primary voting as well.  

I was able to reach Steve's legal assistant, Bernadette, at the State Board of Elections. She stated they could not give a legal opinion and gave me 2 options.

1. File a formal complaint with the State Board of Elections, but the hearing would not be until next month after the elections.
2. Contact the local State's Attorney since they had immediate enforcement powers.

Instead of calling again, I drove to Waukegan.  The Assistant State's Attorney that handles election complaints/questions was off today and tomorrow.  I gave the receptionist the photos and my contact information.  I will be contacting them on Wednesday morning about this incident.  In the mean time, the poster remains up for all to see.  Note: I was very surprised that the person handling election questions was off during and election. That is very disturbing practice that should be corrected.  

Electioneering:

    (10 ILCS 5/7-41) (from Ch. 46, par. 7-41)      Sec. 7-41. (a) All officers upon whom is imposed by law the duty of designating and providing polling places for general elections, shall provide in each such polling place so designated and provided, a sufficient number of booths for such primary election, which booths shall be provided with shelves, such supplies and pencils as will enable the voter to prepare his ballot for voting and in which voters may prepare their ballots screened from all observation as to the manner in which they do so. Such booths shall be within plain view of the election officers and both they and the ballot boxes shall be within plain view of those within the proximity of the voting booths. No person other than election officers and the challengers allowed by law and those admitted for the purpose of voting, as hereinafter provided, shall be permitted within the proximity of the voting booths, except by authority of the primary officers to keep order and enforce the law.      (b) The number of such voting booths shall not be less than one to every seventy-five voters or fraction thereof, who voted at the last preceding election in the precinct or election district.      (c) No person shall do any electioneering or soliciting of votes on primary day within any polling place or within one hundred feet of any polling place, or, at the option of a church or private school, on any of the property of that church or private school that is a polling place. Election officers shall place 2 or more cones, small United States national flags, or some other marker a distance of 100 horizontal feet from each entrance to the room used by voters to engage in voting, which shall be known as the polling room. If the polling room is located within a building that is a private business, a public or private school, or a church or other organization founded for the purpose of religious worship and the distance of 100 horizontal feet ends within the interior of the building, then the markers shall be placed outside of the building at each entrance used by voters to enter that building on the grounds adjacent to the thoroughfare or walkway. If the polling room is located within a public or private building with 2 or more floors and the polling room is located on the ground floor, then the markers shall be placed 100 horizontal feet from each entrance to the polling room used by voters to engage in voting. If the polling room is located in a public or private building with 2 or more floors and the polling room is located on a floor above or below the ground floor, then the markers shall be placed a distance of 100 feet from the nearest elevator or staircase used by voters on the ground floor to access the floor where the polling room is located. The area within where the markers are placed shall be known as a campaign free zone, and electioneering is prohibited pursuant to this subsection. Notwithstanding any other provision of this Section, a church or private school may choose to apply the campaign free zone to its entire property, and, if so, the markers shall be placed near the boundaries on the grounds adjacent to the thoroughfares or walkways leading to the entrances used by the voters. At or near the door of each polling place, the election judges shall place signage indicating the proper entrance to the polling place. In addition, the election judges shall ensure that a sign identifying the location of the polling place is placed on a nearby public roadway. The State Board of Elections shall establish guidelines for the placement of polling place signage.      The area on polling place property beyond the campaign free zone, whether publicly or privately owned, is a public forum for the time that the polls are open on an election day. At the request of election officers any publicly owned building must be made available for use as a polling place. A person shall have the right to congregate and engage in electioneering on any polling place property while the polls are open beyond the campaign free zone, including but not limited to, the placement of temporary signs. This subsection shall be construed liberally in favor of persons engaging in electioneering on all polling place property beyond the campaign free zone for the time that the polls are open on an election day.      (d) The regulation of electioneering on polling place property on an election day, including but not limited to the placement of temporary signs, is an exclusive power and function of the State. A home rule unit may not regulate electioneering and any ordinance or local law contrary to subsection (c) is declared void. This is a denial and limitation of home rule powers and functions under subsection (h) of Section 6 of Article VII of the Illinois Constitution.  (Source: P.A. 95-699, eff. 11-9-07.)