Cost savings or voter suppression? Mail-in ballot change spurs debate in Peoria County

A decision by the Peoria County Election Commission to no longer provide pre-paid postage on mail-in ballots is spurring debate as the 2024 election season approaches.

Election commission chairman Jim Manning said the decision last year was purely a monetary one, made to save the county an estimated $30,000 in the coming election cycle.

Others believe there are political motives at hand.

The Rev. Marvin Hightower, the president of the Peoria NAACP, said the decision by Peoria County was a political move designed to be a hindrance for voters and what he believes could be the first step toward more widespread voter suppression.

The Peoria County Election Commission passed the measure by a 3-1 vote at its June 2022 meeting. Manning, vice chairman Mark Ketterer and commissioner Jeanne Williamson voted yes. Secretary Matt Bartolo voted no.

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Cost-saving move or voter suppression tactic?

Manning said the number of mail-in ballots submitted for 2024 elections are expected to double from 2020 elections, when the county spent roughly $13,000 on postage. Nov. 5, 2024 is Election Day in the United States.

The Peoria County Election Commission has a budget of $832,125.00 in 2023. In 2020, the budget was $1.04 million — but that year, the commission spent $162,634 on elections services, compared to just $28,000 in 2023, because 2020 was a presidential election year.

"We're trying to be good stewards of the county's money because we're pinching dimes everywhere," Manning said. "It was determined that the county should not be incurring that expense to pay for you, me and anyone else voting by mail to get a stamp."

Peoria County had pre-paid postage on ballots for both the 2020 and 2022 elections.

Hightower says the decision has political designs behind it, believing it will hinder those on fixed incomes and with disabilities from voting. He said Peoria County should reverse the decision to allow as much access as possible to voting.

"It may not seem a lot to some, but it may be a lot to other who are already struggling to make it month to month on a fixed income. It's an undue burden — an unnecessary burden — which will deter some," Hightower said.

Neighboring Tazewell County and Woodford County don't provide pre-paid postage on mail-in ballots and did not in 2022 or 2020.

Sangamon County and McLean County will not be providing pre-paid postage in 2024 and did not in 2022 or 2020.

Champaign County and Cook County are among Illinois counties that provide pre-paid postage on mail-in ballots and did so in 2022 and 2020.

The typical cost to vote by mail is about $1.40, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections. To vote by mail, individuals must register through the state board of elections.

The argument that making someone pay for their own stamps is voter suppression is a "disingenuous" one, Manning said. He believes there is still plenty of access for people who want to vote.

"What did you do before we had mail-in ballots? I'll tell you what you did — you walked down the street to a church or school in your neighborhood and you voted in-person, and it didn't cost you a dime. So go do that," Manning said. "If it's costing you 86 cents to put a stamp on the ballot and you can't afford that, just go vote on Election Day for free."

"Are we really suppressing the vote of people who claim they can't afford a stamp?" Manning added. "Well, we've got mailboxes at the Civic Center, we've got drop-off boxes at the North Library. You can come in and drop off your ballot at the commission office on Brandywine. So when you're out and about, just drop it off. Don't put a stamp on it and incur that postage, just drop it off."

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Hightower says if the commission's argument is that it is so inexpensive to pay for postage that anyone can do it, then the county should have no problem paying for postage.

"It's the same argument he made about stamps being 80 cents. Well let's flip that back ... OK, then pay for it," Hightower said.

But there is an even deeper fear at hand for Hightower that goes beyond people not voting because of pre-paid postage no longer being offered. He worries a move like this could be a first step toward broader, more pointed acts of intentional voter suppression.

"From my stance, it is the first step in voter suppression. You start here, and then it's a downward spiral. What's next?" Hightower said. "The next thing you know, we will have full voter suppression and it has to start somewhere. It starts little by little, not in big chunks. You don't eat an elephant in big chunks, you eat it piece by piece."

Hightower said he worries the next move by Peoria County could be to do away with the ballot drop boxes.

The kicker to the entire debate over pre-paid postage on the mail-in ballots is that the United States Postal Service will deliver ballots — even if they don't have postage on them — and will then give the bill to the election commission anyway.

"If a return ballot is nevertheless entered into the mailstream with insufficient or unpaid postage, it is the Postal Service’s policy not to delay the delivery of completed absentee balloting materials, including mail-in ballots," USPS said in a statement to the Journal Star. "We are proactively working with state and local election officials on mailing requirements, including postage payment. In cases where a ballot enters the mailstream without the proper amount of postage, the Postal Service will deliver the ballot and thereafter attempt to collect postage from the appropriate Board of Elections."

Are there concerns over mail-in voting and election integrity?

Both Manning and Hightower acknowledged that a broad national narrative around the safety of mail-in voting have impacted the way people in Peoria think about mail-in voting.

Manning said while he does believe mail-in voting can be susceptible to fraud, he said there are proper checks and balances in place to "minimize" fraud and that the voters of Peoria County should know mail-in voter fraud is not an issue in the county.

"The people of Peoria should be secure knowing that's not going on in Peoria County," Manning said. "We are not faced with those issues. To say otherwise is untrue. It's already challenging enough for our staff to be able to conduct elections, let alone making it harder on them by requiring all the extra things we're being asked to do."

Hightower however, believes the national narrative of voter fraud being prevalent in the 2020 election did play a role in Peoria County's decision to not provide pre-paid postage on ballots.

"I would say it goes with the national narrative that has been spewed over the last several years, especially in 2020, about elections being rigged and stolen and all that kind of thing," Hightower said. "It feeds into that and it feeds off of it. It's totally political."

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This article originally appeared on Journal Star: This change for mail-in ballots raises a red flag for Peoria NAACP