SPRINGFIELD, Ill. (WCIA) — One Illinois county’s mistake less than one month before the election has angered a statewide campaign.
Ballots have been scrapped in Schuyler County in western Illinois because the ballots listed the wrong Republican U.S. Senate candidate.
Kathy Salvi beat her Republican opponents in a crowded primary back in June. The Schuyler County ballots, accidentally listed one of her opponents, Peggy Hubbard, as the candidate.
“Our campaign legal team immediately took action and worked with the Schuyler County State’s Attorney,” a release from Salvi’s campaign reads. “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.”
Schuyler County Clerk Mindy Garrett called it a human error that went past multiple workers.
“Once we realized the error, we contacted our vendor, and we got the ballot corrected,” Garrett said. “We were able to immediately start voting people with the new ballots because we print ballots in house for early voters.”
307 vote by mail ballots were sent out according to Garrett. 45 ballots were already cast with the incorrect candidate listed in the Senate race.
Garrett said any votes cast for Hubbard from those 45 will be thrown out, pending legal action from the Salvi campaign. All other races from those ballots will be counted, as well as any votes for Tammy Duckworth, the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate.