Eric Willems, convicted of felony sexual contact with a minor in 2004 voted in the 2008 general election while on parole. Since Willems was still on probation, and did not have his rights restored, his vote was illegal. There’s no retrieving it now, though. It’s been commingled with all the other ballots and is indistinguishable from any other.

 

Willems was only caught for his illegal vote when he told his parole officer about it. Willems was evidently unaware that his right to vote was suspended by his felony conviction.

 

Fox 9 reporter Tom Lyden warned The Secretary of State’s office about convicted felons on the voter rolls before the election. At that time, Secretary of State Ritchie said his office was aware of 26 convicted felons on the voter rolls that had already been flagged. Lyden’s investigation uncovered 93 more that election officials were unaware of. Ostensibly, these were dealt with after being brought to the Secretary of State’s attention. So, how did Eric Willems’ illegal vote slip through? 

This is one small example of a vote that was counted that never should have been cast, but it underscores the holes in the voter verification process. Better checks on registrations would have caught this problem before it translated into an invalid vote being counted.

Take Action: Sign the Election Integrity Petition and contact your elected officials.