A Will County Board member reelected to his position spent this month sowing doubts into the integrity of the election via several now-deleted Facebook posts.
Vince Logan, a Republican from Joliet, was the second highest vote-getter among four candidates in the County Board’s 7th District based on results posted both on Election Day and after provisional ballots and all remaining mail-in ballots were counted Tuesday. Voters select two county board members per district, which reelected Logan for a four-year term. Newcomer Dawn Bullock, a Democrat, received the most votes in the District 7 race.
Between Election Day and Tuesday, Logan posted several messages on social media alleging the county clerk’s office may have been cheating. Posts, which have since been deleted from his campaign Facebook page, stated, “Opportunity to cheat is huge,” and “Alarm bells ringing.”
Logan claimed via the posts that the Democrat county clerk knew the exact votes needed for him to lose and questioned his motivation to incorrectly count the ballots, which included to tilt the balance of the board or elect the county executive’s attorney a judge. Some of his posts were shared on Facebook more than 100 times each, further spreading the allegations.
County Clerk Chuck Pelkie said the allegations were false.
“Poll watchers have been observing every process in this election from the very beginning,” Pelkie said. “We have opened up every facet of the election process to public scrutiny. Each conclusion he draws on Facebook is more outlandish than the next.”
Logan said because he was leading in his race, he wanted to raise questions about the vote-by-mail process without it appearing like “sour grapes.” Among his concerns were the chain of custody of the ballots, how and where they are stored and signatures on mail-in ballots that were rejected.
“I think everybody on our side agrees that mail-in voting needs to be revamped,” Logan said. “If somebody else was bringing up that, it might be seen as sour grapes.”
“Half the country right now doubts the process,” he said. “It can be revamped. It can be made better.”
In September, Logan was one of 20 County Board members who approved the appointment of Pelkie as county clerk after the resignation of Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry. Pelkie worked in the clerk’s office since 2018 as chief deputy clerk and chief of staff and had overseen eight elections before his appointment.
Logan said he voted in favor of Pelkie to give him unanimous support and a no vote wouldn’t have made a difference.
When asked if he believes anyone in the clerk’s office was engaged in illegal activity, he said, “I don’t think so.”
He said he archived his Facebook posts, but they can no longer be seen on his campaign page because the election is over and it is time to move forward.
County Democrats called Logan’s online behavior shameful and out of line.
“It’s disgusting,” said Jackie Traynere, the County Board’s Democratic Leader. “There’s no truth to his allegations. It undermines the entire process.”
Pelkie said the allegations are “not based in reality.”
The clerk’s office has answered all questions from Republicans and Democrats, Pelkie said. Poll watchers have witnessed the process since early voting started, and the election process has been safe and secure, he said.
“That is unfortunate,” he said. “Here is a guy winning his election and still thinks something is going wrong.”
Commenters on the Facebook posts have made threatening comments, Pelkie said.
Traynere said Logan’s posts appeared to parrot election denials by Donald Trump and his supporters after the 2020 election to undermine the process and manufacture an issue.
“No amount of logic can turn him around,” Traynere said.
The candidates who were leading on election night remained in the lead once provisional ballots and the remaining mail-in ballots were counted and posted.
“Vince Logan, like his Republican counterparts, choose to govern from uneducated, false information, lies and fear tactics,” said Burke Schuster, chair of the Will County Democratic Central Committee. “Mr. Logan should be reminded of his obligations, starting with the truth.”
Schuster said the process has been transparent and both parties were told step by step what was happening.
“At no point is there a hidden process,” Schuster said. “This is not a time for scare tactics in our country. To be spreading lies and false narratives is not needed. The County Board needs to be working together on issues.”
Schuster said the clerk’s office works full-time to run elections, and they do it well.
“For there to be made up issues is sad,” Schuster said.
Christina Clausen, the Will County Republican Central Committee chair, said she doesn’t believe the mail-in-ballots process is safe and secure.
“Without a doubt there are holes in the vote-by-mail process,” Clausen said. “I have lots of questions and concerns. I understand where Vince was coming from. I 100% believe there are holes that need to be buttoned up.”
Clausen said she believes when Republicans objected to a ballot, they were made to feel stupid. Some of her questions went unanswered, she said.
People who she contacted with mismatched signatures didn’t know their ballots were being rejected, Clausen said. Some ballots that were approved appeared to be signed by parents or spouses, she said. She was also concerned with how many people had access to the ballots and if the location was secure.
“I’m not saying there was cheating,” Clausen said. “I never saw it. I never saw anyone do anything nefarious.”
Clausen said she plans to further analyze election data, but at first glance felt the county coroner’s race could have been closer.
Incumbent coroner Laurie Summers, a Democrat, beat Republican Robert Enright by 52.37% to 47.63% of the vote.
Clausen said the results do show Will County is “a very closely divided county.”
The County Board is expected to stay evenly divided with 11 Republicans and 11 Democrats until 2026, when the majority of the board will be on the ballot.
The politically split county was also reflected in the presidential race with Will County voters supporting Kamala Harris 49.72% to Donald Trump 48.13%.
Will County clerk candidate Annette Parker, a Republican County Board member from Crest Hill, was the only Republican to be elected to a countywide office, edging out Joliet Township High School Board President Michelle Stiff 50.2% to 49.8% after results were updated Tuesday.
Parker, who is the executive director of the Lockport Chamber of Commerce, said she plans to keep politics out of the clerk’s office, be as transparent as possible and get rid of any perception that anything wrong occurs.
She said she didn’t witness any shenanigans and doesn’t believe anything wrong occurred. She said she plans to talk with the county clerk’s staff and those involved in the early voting process to see if anything needs to change.
Parker said it was unfortunate the 2020 election raised a lot of concerns for people about the voting process. She said she wants to remove the fear people have about election security.
Parker said Staley Ferry did a great job creating an easy-to-navigate clerk’s website and allowing people to track their vote-by-mail ballot.
Parker said she will lead a public relations campaign to demonstrate the voting process.
She said she believes voters trusted her with the position and she has both Republican and Democratic friends and supporters.
The clerk’s race was the only one not to feature an incumbent.
Democratic incumbents were reelected in all other countywide races, including county executive, circuit clerk of court, recorder of deeds, auditor and coroner. The state’s attorney’s race was unopposed with incumbent Democrat James Glasgow winning another term.
Results will be official after canvassing Nov. 26.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter.
