St. Clair County clerk announces voter fraud reporting system

People who think they’ve spotted voter fraud in St. Clair County on Tuesday will be able to report their suspicions via a reporting system set up by St. Clair County Clerk Tom Holbrook, State’s Attorney Brendan Kelly and Sheriff Rick Watson.

People may email their complaints to VoterIntegrity@co.st-clair.il.us or call the hotline at 825-2366 or provide written correspondence to the County Clerk’s Office, Attention: Election Department, 10 Public Square, Belleville, IL 62220.

All emails received will be sent automatically to federal authorities, the state’s attorney’s office, the sheriff and the county clerk’s election department. Watson has assigned deputies to investigate complaints as they come in.

All letters and complaints filed by phone at the election department will be documented, scanned and automatically distributed through the same voter integrity email system.

“Our voter integrity hotline is an integral part of providing a fair and open election process here in St. Clair County,” Holbrook said in a statement.

Investigators will be assigned to voting places during the voting period Tuesday, as well as to the St. Clair County and East St. Louis election boards. The Federal Bureau of Investigation can be involved in voter fraud probes because the U.S. Justice Department has concurrent jurisdiction in elections where federal candidates are on the ballot.

Holbrook can be reached at 825-2377; Sheriff Watson at 277-3505; Kelly at 277-3892, and the Federal Bureau of Investigation at 397-4401.

This story was originally published March 14, 2016 at 3:52 PM with the headline "St. Clair County clerk announces voter fraud reporting system."