Wrong U.S. Senate candidate appears on ballot in Illinois county

The Illinois Republican candidate for U.S. Senate who won the June primary doesn’t appear on a ballot in Schuyler County and is demanding accountability after dozens of early votes have already been cast.

A social media post shows a copy of a ballot from the central Illinois county that has for the U.S. Senate race incumbent Democratic U.S. Sen. Tammy Duckworth against Republican Peggy Hubbard and Libertarian Bill Redpath. But, it’s Kathy Salvi who is the Republican nominee in that race, not Hubbard.

“On Tuesday, October 11th, it was brought to my attention that ballots drafted by the Schuyler County Board of Elections, and approved by the Illinois State Board of Elections, incorrectly listed one of my primary opponents as the Republican nominee for United States Senate,” Salvi said in a statement. “Our campaign legal team immediately took action and worked with the Schuyler County State’s Attorney. While we came to the best remedy – to sequester the hundreds of ballots that were distributed – this does not solve the most pressing problem of election integrity and transparency.”

Messages to the Illinois State Board of Elections and the Schuyler County Clerk’s office seeking confirmation of the mistake and how the mistake is to be remedied were not immediately returned. Early voting for the Nov. 8 election in Illinois has been going on for two weeks.

In a letter Salvi’s campaign shared with media, her attorney John Fogarty Jr., indicates the Schuyler County State’s Attorney provided information that a total of 45 people have cast early votes using the incorrect ballot.

“I have requested, and you have agreed, that these ballots will be sequestered and processed separately,” Fogarty said.

The letter also indicates 307 vote-by-mail ballots have been mailed out with the incorrect candidate listed.

“I have requested, and you have agreed, that any such returned ballots are sequestered and are not permitted to be counted,” Fogarty said. “You have indicated that while the Clerk’s plan for a remedy is not yet final, it is her current intention to send corrected ballots and an explanatory letter to those three hundred seven (307) voters who have already been mailed an errant Vote By Mail ballot.”

Salvi said more needs to be done to correct the situation.

“There needs to be accountability at the county level for this mistake and with the Illinois Board of Elections for approving the ballots,” she said.