About the ILLINOIS ELECTION INTEGRITY PROGRAM (IEIP)
The Illinois Election Integrity Program (IEIP) was founded in 2012 as a project of Illinois Conservative Union (ICU). Illinois Conservative Union is a 501c4 non-profit, non-partisan, bona fide state civic organization. We work in coalition with activists and groups around the state. We have active & growing working groups. Our coalition meeting (via Zoom) is every Wednesday at 7PM CT. To join the coalition, email: info@ieip.org.
In early Spring 2022, our statewide coalition introduced the successful “Virginia Model” in Illinois. Working with direct guidance from Virginia Coalition leaders, we’re making it “Easy to Vote and Hard to Cheat” in Illinois.
…and just like Virginia, this effort calls for us all to work together. Grassroots can’t do it alone, candidates can’t do it alone, political parties can’t do it alone. But together we can be force multipliers – and win!
The ideal election integrity infrastructure – no more working in silos – no more reinventing the wheel, based on Cleta Mitchell’s “Citizens Guide to Building an Election Integrity Infrastructure” (download LINK).
1.) Start a “Local EI Task Force” to correspond to every local Election Authority. In many states, that will be in each County.
Areas of special attention for Local EI Task Force members might include:
- Vulnerable Voters (Local Senior Care Facilities, Group Homes, etc.)
- Vote by Mail (Policies, procedures, special election judge and poll watcher skills required, interaction with local post office)
- Research (local election procedures, contracts, 3rd-party vendors, the use of FOIA’s, etc.)
- Legislation/State Election Code (is your local election authority in compliance with state law?)
- Voter Roll Maintenance/Data team (are frontline precinct committeemen helping to keep rolls clean? Who is on your local voter rolls? Should they be on the rolls?)
- Election Board Meeting Watchdog(s) (what new equipment/policies/procedures is your local election authority considering or already implementing?)
- Equipment/Software/Technology (what equipment is in use? Does your local EA operate it and program it, or is that in the hands of a 3rd-party vendor?)
2.) Implement “The Virginia Model” statewide. All “Local EI Task Forces” work in partnership in a “Statewide Fair Election Coalition”. They strategize about how to resolve common problems and become force multipliers to tackle statewide issues. They may want to form statewide “working groups” to tackle issues which impact the entire state, such as voter roll maintenance. Everyone leaves their logos and their egos “at the door”.
3.) Realizing that every state has common election integrity challenges, the members of the local task forces and the statewide coalition connect with the national election integrity network to tap into national expertise and knowledge from other states. In this network, the best solutions to common problems rise to the top.
EIN National Working Groups:
Election Integrity Network (https://whoscounting.us)
These national working groups are for Illinois Election Integrity Program participants. The working groups are interactive groups (not lectures). The topics cover key issues impacting election integrity in every state. Participants are election integrity activists from many states. They learn from experts, strategize together on solutions to problems, and exchange ideas. Those activists take what they’ve learned back to their own statewide election integrity coalition meetings (IEIP), share with the task force leaders and activists in their own states and then implement the best techniques
We encourage you to attend a few different working groups to determine which most interest you. EIN Working Group meeting dates and times are subject to change. Contact info@ieip.org for the most up-to-date working groups calendar and to receive Zoom links.
MONDAYS
Building Local Task Forces, 1st & 3rd Mondays @4PM CT
TUESDAYS
VBM/USPS WG, 1st & 3rd Tuesdays @3PM CT
Vulnerable Voters WG, 2nd & 4th Tuesdays @3PM CT
Citizen’s Research, every Tuesday @5PM CT
WEDNESDAYS
Legislation WG, every Wednesday @1PM CT
Voter List Maintenance WG, every Wednesday @3PM CT
THURSDAYS
Election Audits, 1st & 3rd Thursdays @3PM CT
Election Technology WG, 2nd & 4th Thursdays @3PM CT
Communications (EIN Media Trainings, Intro/Newbie Classes), 1st & 3rd Thursdays @6PM CT
Stop RCV, 2nd & 4th Thursdays @6PM CT
Illinois Election Integrity Program (IEIP) state coalition, 2nd & 4th Thursdays @7:30PM CT
What is “The Virginia Model”? What did they do in Virginia?
- Built a statewide coalition – everyone left logos and egos at the door
- Listed their goals for ensuring election integrity: cleaning voter rolls, recruiting and training poll watchers, signing up election judges, etc.
- Realistically assessed the amount of time they had remaining (prior to the start of voting) to achieve these goals.
- (Virginia began their coalition in February 2021. They realized they could NOT clean voter rolls prior to start of voting, so that was set aside for future).
- They recruited election workers (in Illinois, they are called “Election Judges”)
- They also recruited thousands of poll watchers. The goal: “Eyes on Every Ballot”
- All coalition partners recruited and had poll watchers sign up at one main link
- They encouraged CANDIDATES to turn all of their volunteers into poll watchers – Candidates have skin in the game – a vested interest in making sure every vote for them counts!
- They provided PW trainings throughout the state: in person, online webinars, on-demand videos – every possible avenue for training
- They asked PW to designate when, where and for how long they were willing to PW
- They compiled all of this availability into one central source
- They created a shift schedule throughout the state for poll watching (VA has 45 days of Early Voting, Election Day, VBM processing for 4 days) (IL has 40 days of Early Voting, Election Day, and VBM processing for 14 days)
- They were able to ascertain where they needed more coverage and where they had too much coverage
- They worked with volunteers to balance out the coverage, especially in the most trouble-prone counties (Fairfax, Loudon).
- They set up a war room and hotline – ONE CENTRAL REPORTING HUB
- They triaged incoming reports and elevated those requiring legal expertise
- They had attorneys on call willing to handle incidents
Coalition Partners (To become an IEIP partner, email: info@ieip.org)
Angels 4 Freedom
Breakthrough Ideas
Bremen Township GOP
Frederick Douglass Foundation IL
Freedom’s Journal Institute
Illinois Conservative Union
Illinois Family Action
Illinois Republican Party
Knox County Patriots
Lake County Republicans
LaSalle County GOP
McLean County Republicans
Moms for America
Peoria County Voter Integrity
Restore Our Constitution (Macon County)
RNC Election Integrity Committee
Tazewell Co GOP
Tazewell Co Rep Women
Three Headed Eagle Alliance (Kane County)
Will County GOP
Helpful Information
How can I register to vote? Click on this LINK
How do I find out where I can vote? Click on this LINK
How do I become an Election Judge (Poll Worker)? Click on this LINK
Where can I find the location of drop boxes near me? Click on this LINK
Questions? Email: info@ilpac.org or Call: 630-830-0653
Become a Poll Watcher:
• Volunteers are needed for Early Voting, Election Day, and Vote by Mail processing. Help for the amount of time and at the location that best fits your schedule.
• Convenient and thorough training is provided.
• Requirements: You must be a registered voter in Illinois and you must have credentials, which we will arrange.
• Email: cj@illinois.gop to sign up to be an Election Judge or a Poll Watcher.
Attention Candidates!
- Candidates should recruit poll watchers at all of their events.
- Candidates, it’s your responsibility to help recruit poll watchers.
- Candidates can direct their poll watchers to IEIP for poll watcher training.
- Candidates, you have “skin in the game”. You should want to have “Eyes on Every Ballot” which carries your name.
- Candidates, know the law: you can assign poll watchers to each polling location where you are on the ballot.
- Caveat: Election Judges have the authority to limit the number of poll watchers in the polling location. See the official IL SBoE “Pollwatchers Guide” for the number of poll watchers allowed in various voting scenarios, and how Judges determine who may stay and who is asked to leave.
- Candidates should obtain poll watcher credentials from County Clerks/Election Authorities.
- Candidates have the authority to sign and issue credentials to their poll watchers. We’ve discovered that MANY candidates are unaware of this! They are the “Appointing Party or Candidate” signing the form. Most counties allow them to prepare one form and then copy it to distribute to their poll watchers.
- Candidates can be (and should be) poll watchers!
Drop Box Watch Parties
NOTE: ICU / IEIP, Coalition Partners do NOT encourage, sponsor, host, manage or organize Drop Box Watch Parties.
We do not encourage people to participate in Drop Box Watch Parties. This activity is potentially dangerous. We are not responsible for harm, injury or legal liability to those participating in this activity. We realize that some people are going to do this. See this list for suggested safety tips.
- Gather in teams of no less than 3 poll watchers at all times when monitoring drop boxes
- Position yourselves at least 20 feet away from dropbox at all times
- Have all cell phones & cameras charged and ready to capture video
- Have County Sheriff’s phone number and states attorney phone number with you to call them quickly.
- Have printed copies of ICU incident reports on hand to record details while they are fresh.
- Take cell phone video AND live stream in case something happens to one camera/video/phone.
- If you see something suspicious going into drop boxes, record on video
- Know how to operate phone/camera/iPad
- Photograph license plate numbers and car makes and models.
- Never, ever directly confront anyone depositing anything into the dropbox – call the Sheriff, gather your evidence and stay safe