PEORIA, Ill. – Pallets of boxes meant for Tazewell County that were found in a downtown Peoria business lobby are not what they seem.
Tazewell County Clerk John Ackerman says the boxes contain envelopes meant for mail-in ballots in future elections. He says they ordered around 80,000 of the envelopes from the vendor, and do not contain sensitive information in or on them.
Ackerman says they do not use outside vendors for mail-in ballots.
“Vote by mail ballots are printed by our office directly and placed in those envelopes to be mailed out, so there are never ballots being printed themselves by other vendors,” Ackerman said.
He says the concerns were raised by citizens through another media outlet about what the boxes contained, which Ackerman says he does appreciate.
“We always ask if the citizens see something they think is suspicious to notify us. I wish they would have contacted our office directly. We would have been able to respond probably a little more quickly to the situation, rather through an intermediary,” Ackerman said.
Ackerman says they requested the vendor who printed the envelopes take more care in the future with their shipment. He says that includes covering the boxes up better, and even storing the palettes in a different location.
Comments