McLean County Times

Illinois state Sen. Sally Turner (R-Beason) together with Sens. Sue Rezin (R-Morris) and Darren Bailey (R-Xenia) introduced SB1326, the Election Standardization Act, at a virtual news conference. 

"The election standardization act is about adding standardized practices that will increase transparency for the state's election process," Turner said. "The concepts of this bill are really simple, and they address four main areas of our current election system."

The major provisions of the bill, according to Turner, includes additional training for election judges, the creation of a new process for auditing mail-in ballots, and an improved voter verification system. Turner also pointed out that the bill's inspiration originated from her experience serving as a county clerk for six terms.

"I spent over 20 years in a career working to ensure the safety, security, and transparency of our election system and making sure that each individual has a smooth rewarding process to vote in elections," the Republican senator from Beason said. "I made that my top priority as a county clerk and there's nothing more important than casting a ballot on Election Day and now as a state senator, I'm continuing my public service."

Turner acknowledged the hard work of county clerks and other election officials. "These fine clerks that are on today represent all of us in Illinois and they do such a fantastic job and I'm supportive of them in every way,” Turner said.  “I know they do a great job and they continue to work together in a nonpartisan fashion in everything that they do for the vote to get counted correctly and voters' registrations to get done correctly.”

The bill, which has yet to gain a single Democratic co-sponsor, was assigned to the Senate Executive Committee’s subcommittee on elections and is awaiting a schedule for hearing.