A lawsuit filed Wednesday by three Illinois Republicans argues that the state should not count mail-in ballots that arrive after the date of an election.
The suit was filed in federal court in Chicago on behalf of Rep. Michael Bost from Carbondale, a state GOP committeeperson Laura Pollastrini and Susan Sweeney who was one of the state’s Republican presidential electors in 2020.
A spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections said Thursday that it does not comment on pending litigation.
The suit asks a judge to prevent election authorities from counting mail-in ballots that arrive in the days following in-person voting, arguing that a ballot “is not a legal vote unless it is received by Election Day.”
Illinois law directs local election authorities to count ballots postmarked by the date of an election and received within two weeks of the election.
