Don’t deface or alter your local election ballot, McHenry County clerk warns

McHenry County Clerk Joe Tirio has reminded people not to deface or alter their ballots ahead of the April 1 election.

With the disclaimer that he is not a lawyer and he isn’t giving out legal advice, Tirio wrote in a post on the clerk’s official Facebook page last week that he had been made aware of people encouraging others to cross out names on their ballots and write in other names.

Tirio urged those who are encouraging such behavior to stop immediately or they might face legal consequences.

In the post, Tirio wrote that “knowingly defacing, mutilating, or falsifying a ballot” is a Class 4 Felony and could lead to one to three years in prison and ineligibility for public employment for five years after completing the sentence.

He added in the post that if people’s actions cause other people to deface their ballots, people can face charges for conspiracy or similar offenses.

“Elections are a cornerstone of our democracy, and any attempts to undermine their integrity will not be taken lightly,” Tirio wrote.

Tirio said Monday a post apparently went up in a Facebook group where someone was telling people to scratch out names and write in others. But the race in question, which Tirio didn’t specify, doesn’t have a spot for write-in candidates, who have to register with the clerk’s office in order to have any votes for them count.

Tirio said the original Facebook posting that prompted his warning had been taken down, according to the poster, whom Tirio didn’t identify.

“I believe it was an innocent misunderstanding,” Tirio said.

It’s not the first time people have defaced ballots. Tirio said. On occasion, people have used the ballots to write the clerk’s office a note. But Tirio said this is the first “sort of coordinated attempt” he knows about.

Tirio said he hasn’t seen any ballots for the April 1 election and he hasn’t seen any altered ballots. No action has been taken against the poster.

For the April 1 local election, mail ballots got sent out last week. Tirio said the clerk’s office mailed 33,000 ballots and about 1,000 have been mailed back.

Out of the county’s roughly 214,000 registered voters, 3,885 of them have cast ballots in early voting, Tirio said.

Those who want to vote by mail in this election are quickly running out of time to ask for a mail ballot. While Thursday is legally the last day people can ask for a mail ballot, the clerk’s website urges voters to give the office two business days to process their mail ballot application and give five business days for the USPS to mail out the ballot.

People with a mail ballot who change their minds can surrender their ballot at the polls and get an in-person ballot.

Those who want to vote in the election can still vote early or in-person April 1. Those wishing to vote early can find more information at bit.ly/3DGJDoU and those who want to vote in-person next Tuesday can find their polling place at bit.ly/41PVclB. Voters can also see their sample ballot at the election day polling place website.