According to Illinois Rising Action, last week, Democrat Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons mailed hundreds of voters a voting notice letter that listed the wrong address for their Election Day polling location. According to news reports, the incorrect polling address listed on the letter directed voters to an individual’s home instead of the correct location, the East Bend Township Building.
Clerk Ammons dismissed this critical error and offered no explanation other than he is “taking the necessary steps to clarify the issue.” With only five weeks to go until election day, his response to the latest mistake in the run-up to the November election is unacceptable and demonstrates his complete disregard for the seriousness of his responsibility to oversee an election with integrity.
Ammons must be transparent with the people of Champaign County on the specific actions he is taking to remedy this situation and properly notify voters of their correct voting locations. Ammons must calm the public’s concerns by answering questions surrounding his latest mistake in the run-up to the November election:
- How many voters received a voting notice letter with the wrong address listed?
- What specific actions is your office taking to correct this mistake and ensure these voters are notified of their correct voting location address?
“Champaign County Clerk Aaron Ammons must be open and transparent and address the questions surrounding this mistake immediately”, said Kayleen Carlson, executive director of Illinois Rising Action. “With just five weeks to go until the election, failing to correct this critical error will put the validity of the November elections at risk.”
This is not the first time Champaign County Clerk Ammons has been at the center of controversy surrounding an election. Following the March 17, 2020 primary election, it was discovered Clerk Ammons was illegally counting ballots before the primary Election Day. It was also discovered that Ammons’s office sent duplicative ballots to voters prior to the March primary. In addition to the controversies surrounding the primary election, just last month Ammons’s office mailed Vote By Mail applications that included an error in the return address zip code on the application that could result in delivery delays of an application for a voter.
