Former two-time GOP precinct committeeman Terry Newsome says an error in voter registration records maintained by the DuPage County Clerk nearly cost him his vote, raising concerns that Democratic operatives could be targeting Republican households during early voting for the March 17 General Primary Election.
Newsome, who hosts the Behind Enemy Lines podcast, said election workers initially could not locate his registration, despite his long history of voting at the same polling place and his status as a former elected official.
After presenting his driver’s license, Newsome said staff still told him he was not registered to vote.
“I asked them, ‘can I vote without my voter card?’” Newsome said. “They said, ‘yes as long as you have a license and are registered.’ The guy took my license. As I waited for a while he asked me if I was registered. I said yes of course. He said you aren’t registered to vote. That’s when I said, “yes I am.” Then he said ‘have you ever voted from this location.’”
Newsome said he identified himself as a two-time elected committeeman.
“This is where me and my family vote,” he said.
According to Newsome, staff then called over another poll watcher, who suggested, “‘we can register you.’”
“I told him, ‘No. I’m registered. This is crazy,’” Newsome said. “Then that guy called someone.”
He noted that his household has five registered voters living there.
“Then I was asked if I knew Caren Newsome,” Newsome said. “I said, ‘yes that’s my wife.’ They turned the screen my way. My wife, three children and me are all registered Republicans. They had all five of our last names in the system wrong. Instead of Newsome it was Terrence ‘Updatesome.’”
Newsome said he initially had no intention of voting in person, but is glad he did, as it allowed him to catch the error. Otherwise, he says his vote would have been thrown out due to the incorrect last name on his voter registration.
“All five of us, and my vote wouldn’t have counted if I had just voted by mail, because they weren’t going to let me vote there,” he said. “They told me I had to register in person.”
Describing his reaction, Newsome said he was “shocked and frustrated” that such a basic error could nearly nullify his vote, and worried that similar mistakes could silently affect other Republican households.
“Thank God I didn’t vote by mail because the Republicans are telling us to vote by mail and set up and sign up and do it every year automatically,” he said. “So if I would have voted by mail, my vote would have been thrown out. I wouldn’t even ever noticed it. The one Republican lady was shaking her head. The other guy had to call somebody to change something so that my vote counted.”
He added that the situation raised broader concerns.
“This could just be a pure accident, but it’s awfully odd,” Newsome said. “What if these Democrats look and they just randomly pick where there’s big households of Republicans that said automatically vote by mail and do it automatically, and they kind of tweak our names a little bit. None of us would ever know, right?”
Former GOP committeeman Terry Newsome says a voter registration error nearly cost him his vote,
raising concerns about flawed records and early voting in DuPage County. (Facebook / Terry Newsome)
Newsome’s experience has sparked debate over voter registration accuracy, ballot handling and election administration ahead of the March 17 primary.
Temporary early voting locations opened Feb. 10, Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to noon. Permanent sites opened March 2, operating weekdays from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. and weekends from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., including the Darien Community Center, where Newsome cast his ballot.
However, voting had to be temporarily suspended for two days in mid-February after the Dupage County Clerk’s Office left congressional candidate Republican 11th Congressional District candidate Tedora Brown off the ballot.
DuPage County elections are overseen by Dupage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek, a Democrat from Glen Ellyn who was first elected eight years ago and is seeking re-election in 2026.
Throughout her tenure, Kaczmarek has faced scrutiny for alleged administrative issues, including previous voter registration errors and questionable vote counts as well as failing to timely file paperwork for millions of dollars in marijuana tax revenue.
Kaczmarek is currently under criminal investigation by the Illinois Attorney General’s Office for allegations including no-bid contracts totaling roughly $229,000 and mismanagement of election-related spending.
In late 2025, the DuPage County Board censured Kaczmarek for repeatedly defying financial oversight, failing to follow accounting rules and obstructing budget management, citing ongoing negligence that risked taxpayer dollars.
The board also noted her office’s significant budget shortfall, delayed vendor payments and a 40% salary increase over five years.
Meanwhile, Kaczmarek has been noted as a heavily partisan presence.
This election season she issued a public statement warning that U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) “will not be allowed to interfere with DuPage County elections in any way” and set up a hotline for reporting sightings of ICE or other federal agents at polling locations.
Kaczmarek has faced criticism from several Republicans, including longtime election judge Carol Davis, who claimed she was barred from serving as a judge in 2022 after criticizing election procedures.
Kaczmarek first came under heightened attention following the 2020 DuPage County auditor race, in which former auditor Bob Grogan, a Republican, narrowly lost to Democrat William White by 75 votes.
Grogan alleged irregularities including ballots lacking required judge initials and discrepancies between ballots cast and voter records, leading to a recount. Separately, five individuals were charged with voting in the names of deceased voters during that election cycle.
