By Lauraann Wood

Law360 (September 18, 2020, 9:43 PM EDT) -- An Illinois federal judge has blocked Cook County Republicans' bid to block Gov. J.B. Pritzker's pandemic-minded mail-in ballot program from taking effect in the state, saying the party's concerns over voter fraud amounted to speculation-based policy disagreement.

The Cook County Republican Party had asked U.S. District Judge Robert Dow Jr. to preliminarily enjoin the governor, state and local election authorities and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough from implementing a mail-in ballot program Gov. Pritzker initiated by amending the Election Code in May. But Judge Dow said Thursday the party hasn't given him a reason to believe Illinois is facing threats of widespread voter fraud and that its contentions "amount to legislative policy disagreements and unsupported speculation about potential criminal conduct."

The party's August lawsuit alleged the governor's ballot program was touted as a pandemic-safe way for citizens to participate in the general election but is really just a scheme to "disenfranchise" voters and the Republican Party.

It urged Judge Dow to protect the party and the election process against allegedly irreparable harms such as partisan operatives intentionally failing to submit Republican ballots, state workers using their Election Day off to submit fraudulent ballots by impersonating voters and election judges accepting ballots with fraudulent signatures if they likely contain Democratic votes.

The party cited years-old Seventh Circuit precedent calling Illinois a state notorious for voter fraud and another circuit ruling that pointed to hearings over election fraud in 1960 to support its bid. But it "fails to cite any authority explaining how such previous findings of historical fact from decades ago bind this court such that it must find irreparable harm here," Judge Dow said.

News articles pointing to past individual instances of voter fraud fared no better for the party's injunction bid, because it failed to show him how Illinois faces an imminent threat that similar voting misconduct will occur in the Land of Lincoln, Judge Dow said. The articles describe illegal voting conduct, such as steaming open sealed envelopes to replace valid ballots with fraudulent ones, so if the party learns that similar conduct is occurring in the state then "it should be reported it to the proper authorities," Judge Dow said.

The voting program, outlined in Senate Bill 1863, called for election officials to send mail-in ballot applications to everyone who voted in the 2018 general election, 2019 consolidated election or the 2020 primary election by Aug. 1, which translates into about 5 million applications going out to voters, according to the party's lawsuit. Ballot harvesting, in which political operatives collect party members' ballots and deliver them en masse to polling places, is the largest concern for voter fraud and has recently caused officials in other states to overturn some of their election results, the suit said.

But Judge Dow said that claim is based on a misreading of the governor's Election Code amendments. Gov. Pritzker's ballot program didn't change the requirement that ballots be returned only by the voter, and his provision regarding secure ballot drop boxes "says nothing to change who may place the ballot in the drop box," the judge said.

The party is also not likely to succeed on its claim that Democrat-dominant election judge panels will be likely to accept ballots with fraudulent signatures on them to dilute the Republican vote, Judge Dow said. "[J]udges scrutinize the signature on the outside of the ballot and rule on its validity without opening the ballot to see the voter's choices," so their choices are made without knowing what's inside the envelope, he said.

"The court fails to see how any net effect on the outcome of the election could occur if the signature police will be examining sealed envelopes," he said.

Judge Dow said the party also failed to convince him that opening election judge eligibility up to people who are 16 and older will give those younger judges an opportunity to "rubber stamp signature forgery" in a state with insufficient guidance on how to analyze signatures.

"[The party] makes no attempt to explain why it believes election judges who are old enough to obtain a driver's license are more or less likely to 'rubber stamp' fraudulent signatures than adults and thus makes no demonstration of any injury," he said.

The county's lawyer, Brian Kelsey of the Liberty Justice Center, said in a written statement that "while we are disappointed that the judge did not grant our motion for preliminary injunction, we are pleased with his ruling regarding ballot harvesting."

"All across America, Vote By Mail programs are leading to voter disenfranchisement and fraud," he said. "Every voter in Illinois — regardless of political party — deserves to have their vote counted and to feel confident in the election result."

Representatives for the defendants didn't immediately respond Friday to a request for comment.

The Cook County Republican Party is represented by Brian Kelsey and James McQuaid of the Liberty Justice Center.

The governor and state election officials are represented by the Illinois Attorney General's office.

Yarbrough is represented by the Cook County States Attorney's Office.

The case is Cook County Republican Party v. Pritzker, et al., case number 1:20-cv-04676, in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois.

--Editing by Gemma Horowitz.

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