Rep. Ryan Spain | Facebook
Rep. Ryan Spain | Facebook
State Rep. Ryan Spain (R-Peoria) cited cost and security as his reasons for opposing HB 1871, a bill that would expand curbside voting and vote-by-mail.
Spain and his fellow Republicans are opposing the bill because they say it could weaken the security of election processes.
This bill came about out of necessity after COVID-19 made it risky for individuals to visit polling booths.
Spain said that pushing for election reform that seems expensive would be more detrimental to Illinois than beneficial. He simply asked, “Do we have an idea of the magnitude of the cost?”
Spain also said that he’s not so sure that every location for this kind of voting would be totally secure. He said, “The issue of ballot drop box locations is an important thing we should discuss, but I have concerns about the locations that are appropriate and the monitoring and security of the drop boxes.”
The bill would also direct the federal funds provided by the 2002 Help America Vote Act to improve the security of mail-in and drop-off ballots.
The bill would assign two election judges of opposing parties to every curbside voting site to monitor every vehicle without interfering in marking the ballot.
Spain urged his fellow representatives to vote “no” on this bill.
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