(The Center Square) – Opinions differ at the Illinois Statehouse about the motive behind President Donald Trump’s executive order on election integrity.
Trump’s order signed Tuesday said the patchwork of voting methods across the country can lead to basic chain-of-custody problems. The order was also critical of mass voting by mail.
“Further, while countries like Denmark and Sweden sensibly limit mail-in voting to those unable to vote in person and do not count late-arriving votes regardless of the date of postmark, many American elections now feature mass voting by mail, with many officials accepting ballots without postmarks or those received well after Election Day,” the order said.
The U.S. Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security are tasked with evaluating the patchwork of voting systems and voting processes across the country and to require citizenship for voter registration applications.
State Rep. Maurice West, D-Rockford, who chairs the House Elections and Ethics Committee, called Trump’s move an attack on Illinois’ elections.
“This new effort comes after years of promoting bizarre, false election conspiracy theories, eroding trust in our democracy and its civic institutions,” West said in a statement. “Trump is attempting to hand down illegal orders to interfere with our electoral process and potentially disenfranchise millions of people.”
Rep. Patrick Windhorst, R-Metropolis, see’s Trump’s order differently.
“What the president is attempting to do is … ensure the integrity of our elections, to make sure that, again, citizens are the ones casting ballots, that ballots are counted appropriately,” Windhorst told The Center Square.
Another part of Trump’s order says there is not adequate enforcement of federal election requirements that prohibit states from counting ballots received after election day. He tasked the U.S. Attorney General to enforce the provision.
Illinois counts mail-in ballots up to two weeks after election day. The Illinois State Board of Elections said they are reviewing the president’s order, but had no further comment.
Windhorst said the courts may have to correct Illinois.
“There have been lawsuits filed because our U.S. Constitution says that we have an election day and by having ballots counted after election day does that violate the U.S. Constitution,” Windhorst said.
Trump’s order also tasks the U.S. Attorney General to prosecute election crimes.
West said he will continue to work and “ensure our votes are free from illegal interference by an outside actor – including the president.”
