Tag: Voter Safety

How to Vote by Mail in Cook County?

How does voting by mail work? Are you worried about voting mail fraud? Check out this video blog and you will be so much smarter after.

How is voting by mail going to work? Is it safe to vote in-person or should I vote by mail? All of your questions are answered in this video blog with Computer Forensic Expert Lee Neubecker and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough. They will help put your mind at ease!

Vote By Mail

Lee Neubecker (LN): Hi, I’m here again with Karen Yarbrough, the clerk of Cook County and she’s responsible for administering elections and making sure that your vote counts. Karen, thank you for being on the show again.

Clerk Yarbrough (CY): Again, Lee. Thank you.

LN: So, today we’re going to talk more specifically about voting by mail.

CY: Okay.

LN: What do you have to do to vote by mail?

CY: Well, the first thing you have to do is be a registered voter. What a concept, right? Be a registered voter and then have a place where you want your ballot to be mailed to.

LN: Okay. So if you want to get that ballot, how can you get a vote by mail ballot?

CY: You apply at the best website in the world cookcountyclerk.com and you apply there. You will be sent a ballot and hopefully you will review your choices, make your choices, you’ll sign the envelope, it’ll be a postage paid envelope for you and mail it in. Or you have the option of if you don’t want to mail it in, we’re going to have over 60 boxes in which… They will be inside of the early voting places. And you’ll be able to drop those in the box. Now, I want to tell you that they’re inside because some people have suggested that, “Oh, if they’re out in the middle of Michigan Avenue, somebody could just cart it off.” We’ll not be in the middle of Michigan Avenue. They will be inside the polling places and they will be attended to by one of our election judges.

LN: Great. So you can either drop it off at the polling place or you can drop it in the mail?

CY: Yes.

LN: And, what is the deadline on when you can last request a ballot to vote by mail?

CY: Whatever that deadline is, don’t use that deadline to do it today, okay? Today is the day that you should request your ballot. We’ve heard some stories about the post office, although we feel like they’ve been doing a pretty good job and regardless of the noise you’re hearing from Washington, turn it off, fill out your ballot, send it in or drop it off at our locations.

LN: And So as long as it gets postmark stamped by November 4th, it counts, correct?

CY: November 3rd. Yes.

LN: Okay, November 3rd.

CY: Yes, yes.

LN: So as long as it gets stamped by November 3rd, the ballot counts?

CY: That’s absolutely correct.

LN: So drop it off at the post office if you’re concerned, but people should try to drop it off early so there’s time-

CY: We want people to apply now for their ballot. Get their ballot, review their choices, pop it in the mail or else drop it off at one of the drop boxes at our early voting sites.

LN: So, you could also think of voting by mail as doing your part to help control the spread of COVID-19.

CY: I agree. And we’re suggesting, especially to seniors, seniors are very… They want to be social and that’s what many of them have told me. They like showing up on election day. So I’m suggesting to them to use my website, cookcountyclerk.com order your ballot, review your choices and either mail it in and if you want to be social, drop it off at one of our drop boxes. You’ll be able to wait to our judges that you’re used to seeing on election day, but you’ll be able to not stand in line and pop it in our dropbox.

LN: Good. So, let’s say that someone’s at a situation where they got the ballot, they have it at home, but it’s election day. Is it better for them to drop that vote by mail ballot at a poll box or is it better to go in and vote in person?

CY: They should go ahead and vote in person. Even though that ballot, we know that ballot, they have that ballot and the fact that they lost it or they don’t have it, that’s okay. Come in, vote, but there’ll be voting provisionally. And what we do is that spoiled ballot, as far as we’re concerned, that ballot is spoiled because they’ve already voted. Each and every voter in Cook County has a unique voter code that is you. And anytime it shows up, that’s where you get the one person, one vote. We’re not again, having Mickey Mouse to vote in these elections, okay?

LN: So, you think that there’s any truth to voting by mail leading to a fraudulent outcome of the election?

CY: There’ve been countless studies done on fraudulent voting and elections. And I don’t know why this year this is such a focal point. These studies have suggested that less than one point, whatever percent, it’s just not happening, it’s red herring, it’s not happening. So we’re not going to… Although we’re going to prepare for anything like that, it’s just not true.

LN: All right. And one last thing, can you tell everyone again what the website is they need to go to, to request the vote by mail-

CY: cookcountyclerk.com the best website in the world that you can use to get the real deal. No fake news there.

LN: So you said cookcountyclerk.com?

CY: That’s right, yeah.

LN: Not .gov, but .com?

CY: No, .com. We are your trusted source as it relates to elections in Cook County.

LN: Well, thanks again for being on the show and everyone do your duty and get your ballot, vote by mail, vote early, vote often, as they say in Chicago. So-

CY: We’re only going to be voting one time in Cook County.

LN: Great. Thanks again.

CY: Thanks Lee.

LN: Take care.

Keeping Yourself Safe

Keeping yourself safe in these trying times is a tall order. Clerk Karen Yarbrough says to use your common sense and practice social distancing, wash your hands and don’t touch your face.

The Corona Virus COVID-19 is upon us! We knew it was coming and Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough says let’s practice common sense. The health and well-being is the utmost importance for Clerk Yarbrough. She recalls lessons from her mother, wash your hands, don’t shake hands instead fist or elbow bump, sneeze into your elbow and don’t touch your face. Clerk Yarbrough sits down with Enigma Forensics CEO & President Lee Neubecker to discuss the safety measures the County has installed to keep the polling places safe. Check out this video blog with transcripts.

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough says the 2020 Election will be safe!

The Video Transcript Follows

Lee Neubecker: Hi. It’s Lee Neubecker. President of Enigma Forensics. We’re a Chicago-based computer forensics and cybersecurity consulting firm. And I have the pleasure, again, of having the Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough on our show, to provide some common sense advice on what you should do at home and in the workplace to keep yourself safe from this Corona Virus outbreak concern.

Clerk Karen Yarbrough: Thank you, Lee, for opportunity to be here. I think we need to get across to people if they use their basic common sense and remember what mom used to say, they would probably be just fine. Now, 80% of the people who would even contract this, they’re going to be fine. It’s the folks whose systems are compromised, are the ones that probably are going to have some trouble. But, listen. When you sneeze, don’t sneeze out like that. Do it in your arm. Do it in your arm. Okay? Don’t touch your face. Don’t touch your face. I do it all the time. But, don’t touch your face. Don’t shake hands. We’re doing the bump these days. And the hand-bump. Yeah, we’re doing all of that. You know, some of this is basic. Okay?

LN: It’s space.

CY: Yes.

LN: Normally, you give me a big hug when I come in.

CY: No hugs.

LN: We did the elbow bump.

CY: Yes, that’s right. No hugs right through here, okay? Sorry, I’m a hugger, but I’ve just kind of pushed away. And the other we thing we just implemented today in our office, we usually have our meetings and everybody comes to the meeting, and everybody’s in the room. Everything’s closed up. So today we decided that we weren’t going to do it that way. We’re going to do it remotely. So, wherever you are, you tune into the meeting, and we’re going to have the meeting. So they have a name for that. It’s called social something…

LN: Social distancing.

CY: Distancing! That’s it, That’s it! So, that’s what we’re doing. And, little by little, as people get used to things, we’ll be fine.

LN: I think it makes sense to try to do this stuff before you have no choice.

CY: Yes.

LN: You can work out the kinks.

CY: Yeah, yeah. So far, so good. In our office we’ve had our challenges with some folks who have called off, said they’re not going to vote. I mean, they’re not going to… They can’t participate, they won’t be judges and that kind of thing. But we’ve been able to backfield them in. So I feel real good about March 17th. I think too, everyone should prepare for the likely event that as this thing continues that schools could be closed. That hasn’t happened yet, and it’s been evaluated on a case-by-case basis, but that’s a logical decision but that’s a logical decision that might be necessary in the future. And, so thinking about that now and thinking about if that happens, can I still answer my call at work maybe on my smartphone?

LN: Yeah. I think we’re going to adapt. I think we’re going to adapt to using smartphones

CY: Thank you Lee!

Other related videos in Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough Series

Keeping Offices Safe
Voting Tips with Clerk Yarbrough
Access to Justice with Jacob Meister

View CDC on Coronavirus Symptoms

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html?CDC_AA_refVal=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.cdc.gov%2Fcoronavirus%2F2019-ncov%2Fabout%2Fsymptoms.html

View this website to learn more information on Coronavirus

https://www.hopkinsmedicine.org/health/conditions-and-diseases/coronavirus/coronavirus-social-distancing-and-self-quarantine

Voting Tips with Clerk Yarbrough

Cook County elections are on Tuesday, March 17. Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough assures everyone voting will be efficient and safe Check out these voting tips!

Every Vote Counts

Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough says tip number one – be prepared! Tip number two-do your homework on the candidates before you come in and vote. Lastly, it’s ok to bring your notes with you. She ensures that every precaution will be taken to make sure everyone is safe!

Clerk Yarbrough is excited to report, Cook County has all new voting machines that will streamline the voting process. She adds if you would prefer to use the old paper ballot they will have those available too. In addition, the new barcode system will accurately tally and record of voters ballot, which will make counting votes extremely efficient. After the election, Clerk Yarbrough says the office will do a full audit and confirm that every vote is counted She assures everyone voting will be safe and there will be plenty of antiseptic and gloves available! Watch this video as Lee Neubecker interviews Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough and asks about voter tips.

Tuesday, March 17 Vote for your Candidate!

The Video Transcripts Follows

Lee Neubecker: Hi, it’s Lee Neubecker, President of Enigma Forensics. I’m a cyber-security and computer forensic expert witness, and our firm’s based here in Chicago within Cook County, Illinois. And I have the pleasure of having our very own Cook County Clerk, Karen Yarbrough, appearing on the show today to talk to all of you about what you should know, what you should do, as you head out to vote in the next few days. Karen, thanks for being on the show and thanks for sharing these tips.

Clerk Yarbrough: Well, thank you Lee. Thank you for the opportunity. We wanted to be able to tell people what they can expect when they come to vote. For people who come to vote each and every time, they usually know. They, you need to be prepared, and one way you can prepare is by having your own notes on who you want to vote for. We have brand new machines this time, and those machines, it’s going to be a whiz. Everybody has told me they love the new machines. For those who are uncomfortable with using touch screens, we’re going to have the regular paper ballots. But, if you’re prepared to vote, it should take you a few minutes to just go straight through that ballot. And, you know, usually people have problems with all of the judges, do your homework before you come in.

LN: Well, it certainly will help speed up the lines and reduce congestion.

CY: Certainly, certainly.

LN: Also wearing gloves, if you’re really concerned, there’s nothing that prevents you from wearing gloves to vote.

CY: Not at all, we’ve seen a few. You can wear glasses. We’ve seen a few people with gloves on. We’ve seen a few people having their own pens because they plan to pull a, you know they want a paper ballot. So we’re going to, you know, bring your own pen if you’d like. We’re going to, at every station, we’re going to have the bacterial .

LN: The Purell?

CY: Yes, we’re going to have that. We wipe down the stations after each.

LN: You must have got yours early.

CY: Yes we did, yes we did.

LN: You were prepared.

CY: Yes, we wanted to be prepared. We wanted to be prepared. We were hearing about what was going on, and we know that we have one day to do the election actually. We have all of these days for early voting, but we have that one day and we got to get it right.

LN: Now, I’ve heard that there were some concerns regarding the barcode on some of the ballots that gets printed that that could be.

CY: I have no concerns about that, okay. The great thing about our new equipment is while you’ll put your ballot through and the barcode is there, but we have a record of each and every one of those ballots. If we have to go back, and we do, we go back and we review to make sure things are right.

LN: So, on paper it’s doing more than just the QR code. It also has the friendly names printed out.

CY: Yes

LN: Is that correct?

CY: Oh absolutely, yes.

LN: So the concerns that some people had were that, I think the concern was that the barcode could be different from what’s printed. But if that were the case, you’d be able to audit that after the fact.

CY: And we do a full-blown audit at the end of every election just to make sure.

LN: So someone voting, they’ll be able to actually see the print out on paper.

CY: They will be able to have that in their hands. They’ll be able to check their choices and then they will cast their own ballot, not us but them.

LN: And so it gets scanned and digitized, but then the physical ballot gets locked in the box, correct?

CY: Yes.

LN: So, there’s a dual system.

CY: Absolutely.

LN: I think that makes a lot of sense.

CY: It does, it does. And it gives people peace of mind. You hear all of these stories about well, my vote may not count, and this. I mean, all kinds of things. So to prevent those kinds of things, we have new equipment, and we have a new process, and I think people are going to like it.

LN: Great, well everyone get out there and vote. And, thanks Karen for all your work on this to help make sure election day goes smooth.

LN: Thanks.

CY: Thank you.

Cook County Clerk.com

https://www.cookcountyclerk.com/agency/2020-elections

Other related articles

Keep the Public Safe – Vote by mail!