Month: January 2020

ILGOP Chairman renews call for AVR program to be shut down until scope of “glitches” is understood and all fixes verified

New reporting from the Daily Line reveals that roughly 4,700 sixteen year olds were automatically registered to vote by the Secretary of State’s office. Only when caught by the State Board of Elections were they removed. This is in addition to 297 individuals who opted out of the Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) program but were registered to vote anyways.

Last week, ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider led the call for suspending the Automatic Voter Registration program in light of hundreds of non-citizens being automatically registered to vote and more than a dozen actually voting in 2018. 

Today, Chairman Schneider released the following statement renewing his call to suspend AVR:

“Shut it down. Shut it down now until we know the entire scope of the Secretary of State’s failures in implementing the AVR program. The fundamental right to vote and the sanctity of our democracy is too important to bury our heads in the sand and trust that Illinois’ state government has everything under control when it clearly does not. We must suspend the AVR program until a full investigation and audit has been performed and measures have been put into place to make sure this never happens again.” 

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Illinois Republican Party Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response to Governor Pritzker’s State of the State address:

“In his State of the State speech today, Governor Pritzker talked about his desire to reach across the aisle and find common ground to solve the enormous challenges facing Illinois. Republicans in Illinois stand ready to work in good faith with the Governor, but we will not solve the immense challenges we face by pushing the same tax-and-spend policies that created the mess in Illinois.

So far, Governor Pritzker’s priorities have been focused on adding to our financial crisis, not solving it. His priorities have made life more expensive for working families in Illinois, not more affordable. And in the midst of a mass exodus of people fleeing our state, Governor Pritzker’s priorities will only serve to speed up our decline as small businesses shutter, property taxes keep rising, and middle class wallets are hit up time and again.

Illinois is drowning under a tsunami of legal and illegal public corruption. I urge the Governor to follow through on his promises and act with leadership on substantive ethics reforms and non-partisan legislative redistricting. With three months to go on a Fair Maps Amendment deadline, nothing less than urgent action by the Governor is acceptable. 

But there is one person who stands in the way of these critical changes. Mike Madigan has slow-walked ethics reform and refuses to support the non-partisan redrawing of legislative maps. Now is the time for Pritzker to show Madigan that the status quo in Springfield must change. I hope the Governor has the courage to do so.”

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Schneider demands answers from Secretary of State and calls for AVR program to be temporarily suspended

In 2017, Illinois lawmakers passed automatic voter registration into law. Under the law, Illinois citizens are automatically registered to vote through an electronic process administered by the Illinois Secretary of State when they’re applying for a driver’s license or a state ID.

Yesterday, a report revealed that 574 non-citizens were automatically registered to vote by the Illinois Secretary of State’s Office, and the State Board of Elections confirmed today that some of those non-citizens voted in the 2018 election.

ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response: 

“The recent reports of non-citizens voting in Illinois is simply unacceptable.  The Secretary of State’s failure to competently administer the Automatic Voter Registration (AVR) process in Illinois compromises the integrity of our entire election system.

Mistakes are made, but when it comes to voting, it simply is inexcusable that non-citizens voted in Illinois and potentially affected the outcome of elections across the state. Those in the Secretary of State’s Office who allowed this to happen should be terminated from their employment with the State. Public hearings in the General Assembly should commence immediately, and the AVR program should be temporarily suspended until we get answers. 

Voting is a right and a privilege reserved only for U.S. citizens. The American people need to know that their government is upholding, not undermining, that right.”

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ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider released the following statement in response to the revelation that Director of the Department of Agriculture, and former state senator, John Sullivan resigned because he knew about Mike McClain’s “rape in Champaign” email at the time and did nothing: 

“If a random state legislator like John Sullivan knew about McClain’s email at the time, surely there were others who knew about it and also ‘kept their mouths shut.’ It defies belief that John Sullivan knew of the email and its contents, but Speaker Mike Madigan, a close confidant of the email’s author, knew nothing. 

Today’s news begs additional questions: Who else knew about the “rape in Champaign”? When did they find out? Why didn’t they do anything? These questions deserve answers, and that’s why I agree with Leader Durkin that there should be a House investigation to get to the bottom of this scandal.”

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The latest email from Mike McClain, uncovered by WBEZ, to the top staff of the former Quinn administration is beyond comprehension. We all know that McClain is one of Madigan’s closest allies, most trusted lobbyist and personal friend of the Speaker. What we didn’t know is that when McClain carried on as Madigan’s enforcer, he cited the cover-up of a rape as a badge of honor when imploring government officials to protect his patronage hire. 

“The company you keep for decades says a lot about the type of person you are. Madigan and his leadership – the power structure of the Democratic party in Illinois – is rotten to the core. Madigan must provide answers immediately to these two questions: what did you know about the rape and when did you know it?” – ILGOP Chairman Tim Schneider

Republicans aren’t the only ones disgusted by the actions of Madigan’s best friend. Members of Madigan’s own House Democrat Caucus have also voiced their displeasure:

Rep. Kelly Cassidy

“And let’s stop pretending he’s (McClain) a ‘former’ anything. This is the guy who for decades has been seen as the most powerful lobbyist in the state and remains incredibly close to the Speaker.”

Rep. Sara Feigenholtz

The representative tweeted in response to Rep. Cassidy: “…Like a human dumpster fire @RepKellyCassidy”

Rep. Ann Williams

“Stunning and incredibly disturbing to read about the callous dismissal of a rape and its coverup. Anyone involved must be held accountable  and an investigation should be conducted immediately. No one is above the law.”

Rep. Will Guzzardi

“Truly disturbing news. ‘Keeping your mouth shut’ about a rape is reprehensible, and thinking it’s a thing to be commended is really twisted. ‘He is loyal.’ As much as anything, it’s the cult of loyalty in Springfield that’s toxic.”

ILGOP Spokesman Joe Hackler argued this situation is too important for a curt Steve Brown response from the Speaker, saying, “Madigan needs to come out from under the rock he pretends to live under and answer questions. Why was his closest ally going around bragging about the cover-up of a rape? Did McClain ever discuss said rape with him and if he did, why didn’t Madigan do anything about it?” 

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