Have you voted yet? Primary election day is March 19, but early voting began Feb. 8. Anyone who has already cast a ballot – or knows they won’t participate in a partisan primary – can ignore campaign outreach efforts, but we all can play a part in defeating scam efforts to influence outcomes.
The Anti-Robocall Multistate Litigation Task Force includes 51 attorneys general. Illinois’ Kwame Raoul has been involved, an effort that proved worthwhile amid reports of chicanery leading up to New Hampshire’s Jan. 23 primary. In that state, voters got phone calls using a falsified message in a digitally created voice indiscernible from the actual president.
“I encourage voters to be wary of artificial intelligence calls relating to elections,” Raoul said in a Feb. 6 news release. “While the voice on the other end of the call may seem familiar and convincing, I urge voters to remain cautious. Be sure to independently confirm any information you receive unsolicited regarding voting. The right to participate in our nation’s democracy is one of the most fundamental rights we have as Americans. I will continue to work with fellow attorneys general to ensure that right is protected from misleading robocalls.”
To report suspicious activity, visit illinoisattorneygeneral.gov/File-A-Complaint/ to find the right online form or the relevant toll-free phone number.
And if you don’t usually pull a primary ballot, check with your local election authority to see if your precinct has any public issue questions. It’s easy, and fast, to vote on such referenda without getting bogged down in the rest of the cycle.
ON THIS DAY: It’s easy to remember Valentine’s Day, but it’s also the 130th birthday of comedian Jack Benny. Born in Chicago in 1894, Benny is more closely associated with Waukegan, which in 2006 landmarked one of his former homes and in 1961 named a middle school in his honor. The school teams are the 39ers, so named because he often said his age was “39 and holding.”
Also born in Chicago on Feb. 14 was the League of Women Voters. The group marks its official founding on Valentine’s Day 1920, preceding by six months the ratification of the 19th Amendment, through a merger of the National Council of Women Voters and the National American Women’s Suffrage Association.
My great-grandmother, who died when I was in high school, was born in 1901 and attending Northwestern University during the women’s suffrage movement. I desperately wish we’d chatted more about those years when I had the chance, but even memories of her remind me of how our society is quite recently removed from operating under much different circumstances than those we’ve come to accept as standard.
Marking such anniversaries honors the labors of people who crusaded for equality.
• Scott T. Holland writes about state government issues for Shaw Media. Follow him on X @sth749. He can be reached at sholland@shawmedia.com.
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February 13, 2024 at 07:04PM
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