Peoria Standard

An opinion piece written by Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman was recently published in The Washington Post. Ackerman argues that new voter laws passed in Republican-led states are not too different from Illinois' voter regulations.

"The Washington Post picked up an Op-Ed I recently wrote,” Ackerman posted on Facebook. “Extremely proud to have my voice heard by one of the nation's largest newspapers. This bombastic rhetoric with no basis in reality we have sadly become accustomed to must end and we must return to discussing facts rather than fiction."

Nearly two dozen states are moving to enact voting reforms. In Florida, Georgia and Texas especially, critics have opposed the moves as racist efforts to restrict voting rights.

“President Biden last week encouraged this gross misrepresentation, denouncing the laws as ‘21st century Jim Crow’ and demanding of Republicans, 'have you no shame,'" Ackerman wrote.

Ackerman argues the measures being proposed in the three states are not much different from current law in Illinois, a heavily Democratic state.

Ackerman argues the ban in Georgia on handing out food or drink to people waiting to vote is not much different from anti-electioneering laws here in Illinois, where electioneering within 100 feet of voting sites is prohibited.

In Florida, Ackerman contends that requests for vote-by-mail ballots are valid for two years, or each election cycle.

“Here in Illinois, we had previously required voters to file a new request to vote by mail for every election, including primaries” he said. “Under new legislation, beginning in 2022 requesters in Illinois can now opt to join a permanent vote-by-mail list, otherwise the each-new-election rule stands."

Georgia and Texas has ended the use of buses as mobile voting stations and Texas plans to end 24-hour voting, just the same as things are in Illinois, Ackerman said.

In Florida a new law bans so-called “ballot harvesting,” where one individual collects an unlimited number of ballots and ensures that they are cast.

Ackerman adds “in Illinois, we require anyone producing a ballot other than their own to have written permission from the voter. That voter signature on the affidavit is then verified before the ballot is processed. The effect is that Illinois bars ‘ballot harvesting.’”

Ackerman concludes “what it says about Illinois — and about Florida, Georgia and Texas — is that states have an obligation to conduct fair and efficient elections, to constantly evaluate what works best, and to occasionally revise the rules as seems appropriate”