Cook County State’s Attorney’s Office Investigates Ald. Hairston on Gifts for Vote Offer
Steve Campbell, spokesperson with the Cook County State’s Attorney’s office, confirmed for the Chicago Citizen Newspaper, that prosecutors are investigating Ald. Leslie Hairston (5th Ward), for allegedly offering raffle tickets to anyone who brought a voting receipt to her office, which would have allowed them to enter a drawing for a chance to win prizes from local retailers.
Campbell would not respond to questions pending the investigation, and referred the Chicago Citizen Newspaper to an Oct. 29, Chicago Tribune news story saying that he can confirm the accounts of the news story.
A Facebook posting on Hairston’s 5th Ward page that has since been removed, offered a raffle ticket with the chance to win prizes from local stores to anyone who brought a voting receipt to her office, a move the alderman last Wednesday conceded was wrong, according to the Tribune.
Per State election law, anyone who promises money "or other valuable consideration" in return for someone to vote, register to vote or to influence their vote, "shall be guilty of a class 4 felony."
The Chicago Citizen Newspaper contacted Hairston’s office about the matter and was issued the following statement:
“At no time was it my intention to pay people for voting. There are several referenda on the ballot for this upcoming election that specifically impact residents in my community. Consequently, my only intent was to encourage people to exercise their right to vote. We did not receive any responses to the Facebook post before it was removed. Most people who take part in Early Voting, during a mid-term election, are extremely civic-minded and do not need any enticements to vote. We only had the best of intentions and there was no subterfuge involved at any time. It may not have been well thought out, but it was well intentioned.”
Hairston, who is not on the ballot, reportedly contacted the Chicago Board of Elections for response on the propriety of the offer but did not wait for the official response from the Board before posting the raffle ticket information on her ward’s Facebook page.
Jim Allen, Chicago Board of Election spokesman, confirmed that Lance Gough, executive director of the Chicago Board of Elections did receive a call from Hairston asking about the propriety of the offer and was told the Board could not offer advice and referred Hairston to the Illinois state's attorney's office.
Offering anything of value for voting is improper, but it's not uncommon for Gough’s office to get inquiries about doing so.
"A lot of well-intentioned people have made the mistake over the years, but the law is the law, and it's very clear," Allen was quoted saying.
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