Waukegan Ald. Sylvia Sims Bolton, 1st Ward, is facing a felony charge after, authorities say, she falsified election material in the March primary contest by casting a ballot on behalf of her dead mother.
Bolton, 67, was charged with felony mutilation of election material and disregarding the election code, a misdemeanor, on May 19, and appeared Wednesday in Lake County Court in Waukegan.
Though the irregularity was discovered on Feb. 26 by the Lake County Clerk’s Office, the investigation by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office did not start until March 27 — 10 days after the March 17 primary election — when the clerk’s office confirmed it.
After the clerk’s office issued a vote-by-mail ballot to Mary Sims on Feb. 5, the office cancelled Sims’ voter registration after learning of her death on Feb. 12 from the Illinois Department of Public Health through the Illinois State Board of Elections voter registration system, according to a joint news release from the offices of the county clerk, sheriff and state’s attorney.
Sims died on Jan. 12 and is Bolton’s mother, according to Richard Bradshaw, a licensed funeral director with Bradshaw and Range Funeral Home in Waukegan.
A completed vote-by-mail ballot was deposited in the drop box outside the clerk’s office on Feb. 26, was properly processed and “flagged as voided and segregated from valid Vote by Mail ballots,” according to the release.
After the March 17 election, the clerk’s election staff did its usual post-election review to ensure everything was proper and in order, according to the release. On March 27, election officials realized the death record was processed before the ballot was returned. It was then confirmed by a sheriff’s detective.
County Clerk Anthony Vega said in an interview on Wednesday that his office has the necessary sophisticated equipment to discern voting improprieties. This is the first time since he took office nearly four years ago that vote-by-mail fraud has been found.
“Our system of checks and balances worked as intended,” Vega said. “Our staff followed established protocols. They identified the irregularities, and our office coordinated with our law enforcement partners. This is exceedingly rare, but if someone games the system, we will hold them accountable.”
Lake County State’s Attorney Eric Rinehart said in an email that detecting the improperly mailed ballot is why it is important to make sure the clerk’s office has the best and most sophisticated equipment available.
“Clerk Vega and his team followed national best practices in order to detect and report this crime,” Reinhart said. “We must say loudly to people that if (they) improperly vote for others, you will be caught, investigated and prosecuted.”
Vega said the only other situation involving voting fraud during his nearly four-year tenure involved an individual who cast a ballot in Lake County and later tried to do the same in Wisconsin.
Officials said the investigation showed Bolton received a vote-by-mail ballot for her mother, who died in January. Bolton completed the ballot, signed her mother’s name and placed it in the drop box outside the clerk’s office.
Charges were filed against Bolton on May 19. She surrendered to authorities on Wednesday and appeared in Lake County Court in Waukegan.
Sara Avalos, a spokesperson for the State’s Attorney’s Office, said Bolton was released on her own recognizance and is next scheduled to appear in Lake County Court at 9 a.m. on July 2 in Waukegan.
If convicted on the felony charge, Rinehart said Bolton could receive probation or be sentenced to between one and three years in prison.
David Motley, the public relations director for the city of Waukegan, said Wednesday the city does not comment on pending or ongoing litigation. Bolton could not be reached for comment.
