Prairie State Wire

Judicial Watch, an educational and awareness organization, has filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Illinois against the Illinois State Board of Elections and Executive Director Bernadette Matthews. The lawsuit claimed that the Board failed to clean their voter rolls and produced election related records in compliance with federal law. 

“Illinois’ voting rolls are a mess. Dirty voter rolls can mean dirty elections,” said Judicial Watch President Tom Fitton. “Illinois should take immediate steps to clean its rolls to both prevent fraud and increase voter confidence in the elections.”

The lawsuit points out several failures within Illinois reports and a lack of reports. These show several counties removed very few voter registrations or none at all, and 34 counties have failed to report any changes in data. Several other violations of the National Voter Registration Act were listed. 

The lawsuit was filed by Judicial Watch alongside nonprofit organization Illinois Family Action, nonprofit organization Breakthrough Ideas, and a lawfully registered voter in the state Carol Davis. 

Judicial Watch is a conservative, non-partisan advocacy organization which aims to “promote transparency, accountability and integrity in government, politics and the law,” according to its website. They fulfill their mission through using litigation, investigations, and public outreach.