PRELIMINARY STATEMENT ON VOTE SUPPRESSION IN COOK COUNTY (2018 PRIMARY ELECTION)

COOK COUNTY -- The Illinois Green Party strongly condemns the conduct of poll workers in Cook County during the 2018 primary elections.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 20, 2018

Illinois Green Party
[email protected]

Our party has been contacted by voters from over fifteen different polling locations, spanning at least nine of suburban Cook County's townships, who were told by Cook County poll workers that they could not vote in the Green Party primary, and that only Republican or Democrat ballots were available.

This is a flagrant disenfranchisement of voters who wished to participate in a legal, properly registered primary election. The Illinois Green Party is an established party with a registered write-in candidate within Cook County, and fully entitled to the same primary process as the Democrat and Republican parties.

The conduct of poll workers in denying Green Party primary participation to Cook County voters is inexcusable. Whether it represents a lack of proper training or deliberate vote suppression on the part of the Cook County Clerk's office, the effect is the same: the disenfranchisement of voters whose first choice was to participate in the Green Party primary.

We will continue to reach out to our supporters, and to compile as complete and accurate a list as we can of those voters who wished to vote Green in the suburban precincts but were denied the opportunity to do so.

For questions or media requests, or to add your organization's voice to our statement in support of fair, open elections, contact [email protected] or call (773) 809-4547.

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