Opinion ID: 2246860
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 5

Heading: Numbered Ballots

Text: Appellee argues that the trial court should not have counted 77 ballots which were numbered. She argues that the evidence at trial established that judges of election in two precincts marked certain ballots with a number which corresponded to the number appearing on the voter's application for a ballot. She argues that, by numbering the ballots, the election judges destroyed the secrecy of the ballot, and that these ballots should not have been counted. Our constitution states that [t]he General Assembly by law shall    insure secrecy of voting and the integrity of the election process   . (Ill. Const.1970, art. III, § 4.) Several provisions of the Election Code were obviously enacted by the legislature for the purpose of ensuring the secrecy of the ballot. (See, e.g., Ill.Rev. Stat.1989, ch. 46, par. 24A-5 (voting booths shall be placed so that the entrance to each booth faces a wall in such a manner that no judge of election or pollwatcher is able to observe a voter casting a ballot).) Nothing in article 7 of the Election Code, which sets out the rules governing primary elections, or in article 24A of the Election Code, which defines the procedures used in jurisdictions with electronic voting equipment, specifically prohibits election judges from numbering ballots. Appellee argues, however, that section 17-11 of the Election Code, which regulates the manner of voting in general elections, states: Before leaving the voting booth the voter shall fold his ballot in such manner as to conceal the marks thereon. He shall then vote forthwith in the manner herein provided, except that the number corresponding to the number of the voter on the poll books shall not be endorsed on the back of his ballot. Ill.Rev.Stat. 1989, ch. 46, par. 17-11. The appellee argues that section 17-11 specifically prohibits election judges from numbering ballots in a primary election. We disagree for two reasons. First, section 17-11 describes in detail how the voter shall mark a ballot and therefore should be construed as prohibiting voters, rather than election judges, from marking a number on the back of the ballot. Other sections of the Election Code which define the duties of election judges in general elections do not prohibit such judges from numbering ballots. (See, e.g., Ill.Rev.Stat. 1989, ch. 46, pars. 17-9, 17-10.) Second, section 17-11 does not apply to primary elections. Rather, sections 7-46 and 7-47 of the Election Code define the manner in which ballots shall be voted, folded and delivered in primary elections. While these sections are similar in many respects to section 17-11, they do not specify that no number shall be endorsed on the back of a primary ballot. The appellee nevertheless argues that numbered ballots may not be counted because they violate the secrecy of the ballot. As support for this argument, the appellee relies upon a body of case law which holds that ballots with distinguishing marks which violate the secrecy of the ballot are invalid. See, e.g., Griffin v. Rausa (1954), 2 Ill.2d 421, 118 N.E.2d 249; Hester v. Kamykowski (1958), 13 Ill.2d 481, 150 N.E.2d 196. Our courts have consistently held that any deliberate marking of a ballot by a voter, not made to indicate his choice for a candidate, and which is effective as a mark by which his ballot may be distinguished, is a distinguishing mark which invalidates the ballot. ( In re Contest of Election for Governor (1983), 93 Ill.2d 463, 485, 67 Ill.Dec. 131, 444 N.E.2d 170; Griffin v. Rausa (1954), 2 Ill.2d 421, 424, 118 N.E.2d 249; Barlick v. Kunz (1941), 375 Ill. 318, 321, 31 N.E.2d 283; Tuthill v. Rendelman (1944), 387 Ill. 321, 347, 56 N.E.2d 375.) Not every marking which is sufficient to distinguish one ballot from another will invalidate a ballot. The question of whether a particular mark upon a ballot is a distinguishing mark is largely a question of fact. ( Barlick v. Kunz (1940), 375 Ill. 318, 325, 31 N.E.2d 283.) Generally, courts have held that two elements must be satisfied before a mark will be regarded as a distinguishing mark. First, the mark must be one which has been placed on the ballot by the voter himself. Marks placed on a ballot by election officials without participation of the voter do not constitute distinguishing marks. ( In re Contest of Election for Governor (1983), 93 Ill.2d 463, 485, 67 Ill.Dec. 131, 444 N.E.2d 170; Barlick v. Kunz (1940), 375 Ill. 318, 325, 31 N.E.2d 283; Boland v. City of LaSalle (1938), 370 Ill. 387, 391, 19 N.E.2d 177.) A voter will not be disfranchised simply because some unauthorized person, regardless of his innocent intention, has deliberately placed marks on a ballot. Barlick v. Kunz (1941), 375 Ill. 318, 325-26, 31 N.E.2d 283. Second, the mark must be made with the deliberate intention of violating the secrecy of the ballot. ( In re Contest of Election for Governor (1983), 93 Ill.2d 463, 485, 67 Ill.Dec. 131, 444 N.E.2d 170; Griffin v. Rausa (1954), 2 Ill.2d 421, 424, 118 N.E.2d 249; Barlick v. Kunz (1941), 375 Ill. 318, 325-26, 31 N.E.2d 283.) If it appears that marks were placed upon a ballot as the result of an honest effort by the voter to indicate his choice of a candidate, and not as an attempt to signify the identity of the voter, the ballot should not be invalidated. Griffin v. Rausa (1954), 2 Ill.2d 421, 424, 118 N.E.2d 249; Barlick v. Kunz (1941), 375 Ill. 318, 325-26, 31 N.E.2d 283. Applying the foregoing observations to the ballots questioned here, we conclude, as did the trial court, that the numbers on the ballots are not distinguishing marks which invalidate the ballots. Neither of the elements described above is satisfied here. The numbers on the ballots were placed on the ballots by the election judges, rather than the voters. As a general rule, ignorance, inadvertence, mistake, or even intentional wrong on the part of election officials will not be permitted to disfranchise voters. ( Sibley v. Staiger (1932), 347 Ill. 288, 179 N.E. 877.) Although an exception to this rule is recognized where election officials fail to comply with a mandatory provision of the Election Code, no mandatory provision of the Election Code was violated here. In fact, to hold these numbered ballots invalid would allow corrupt election judges to deliberately disfranchise voters by numbering the ballots of those voters who they suspected would vote differently than the judges desired. The appellee concedes that the possibility of fraud exists. She argues, however, that voters could return the numbered ballots to the election judges and request new, unmarked ballots. As stated, however, nothing in the Election Code specifically prohibits election judges from numbering primary ballots. We will not obligate voters, at the risk of disfranchisement, to monitor the election officials to ensure that they do nothing to jeopardize the secrecy of the ballot, particularly where nothing in the Election Code prohibits the election officials from acting in the manner questioned. The numbers also do not qualify as distinguishing marks because they were not made with the intention of violating the secrecy of the ballots or of identifying the voters. On the contrary, the election judges testified at trial that they only numbered the ballots to make it easier to count the ballots when the polls closed. It is true that this court has always endeavored to protect the secrecy of the ballot. (See, e.g., Hester v. Kamykowski (1958), 13 Ill.2d 481, 150 N.E.2d 196 (where court voided an election based, in part, upon the fact that the ballots were printed upon transparent paper, in violation of section 16-3 of the Election Code).) Here, however, there is no evidence in the record which suggests that the numbered ballots were actually traced to particular voters or that the secrecy of the ballots was violated at any time during or after the voting process. In such circumstances, we must reject the appellee's claim that the numbered ballots are invalid because they violated the secrecy of the ballots.