Sangamon Sun

Speaking during a news conference discussing Senate Bill 1326, amending the election code of Illinois, Sangamon County Clerk Don Gray spoke highly about the proposed measure that aims to improve the electoral process in the state.

The bill, which he said will inspire voters' trust, is a result of teamwork. 

"I'm really excited about this collaborative effort of stakeholders involved in the election administration business," said Gray. "The Election Transparency and Standardization Act is really the culmination of a lot of months of hard work amongst administrators such as myself, former state regulatory individuals from the state board of elections, and of course our state legislators."

Gray stated that SB1326 will make the electoral process more transparent and more acceptable to the voters. 

"We know that we provide a secure and accountable system of elections, but the public has to have confidence in knowing how we operate so that when we have a finalized election result, it is believed by both winners and those who had lost alike," he said.

The Sangamon County clerk also explained how the new legislation, when passed, will help clear all misconceptions about mail-in ballots.

"There are a lot of misconceptions about how vote-by-mail really operates and once you educate and show accountability to the public through a post-election audit, it should give great confidence to the public in knowing that the vote-by-mail process is secure, transparent and it's done well and represents an accurate account of those ballots that were cast," Gray added.

The proposed bill’s provisions include the creation of a procedure of auditing mail-in ballots, additional training of election judges, and a modified voter verification process. 

SB1326 is primarily authored by state Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason), with Sens. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) as co-sponsors.