Dupage Policy Journal

Mike Strick, Republican candidate for the District 84 state House seat, is excited about the election, which has been a long journey for him.

“It’s kind of exciting,” Strick told the DuPage Policy Journal. “I can’t believe it’s coming to an end. Since I started walking in May, I’ve knocked on almost 8,000 doors now. The message is resonating. My opponent (state Rep. Stephanie Kifowit, D-Oswego) is pulling out all the stops. I think she sent out 10 or 12 mailers already. A lot of my yard signs, which I call soldiers, are still in people’s yards. That’s always a good sign.”

Another good sign to Strick and, maybe to Illinois, is the number of registered voters eagerly waiting for their voices to be counted this election. There are nearly 7.99 million registered active voters, the highest since 1970.

Mike Strick | Contributed photo

Strick said he is glad that voters are turning out, especially in light of the scandals plaguing this election cycle.

“It’s exciting news,” Strick said. “Unfortunately, we don’t know which way (voters) are leaning, but the election is critical to our state and to our nation. I’m fascinated at to how much or how little the conversation has been regarding the Democratic candidate (Hillary Clinton) and her email problems, health problems and everything else. I really believe that the people of Illinois are standing up, and they like the messages that the Republican candidates have.”

Strick said the surge in voter registrations is a good sign.

“They want to tell the Establishment that we are fed up with what is going on,” Strick said. “That could even be related to (Illinois House Speaker) Mike Madigan (D-Chicag) and his cohorts and how they are destroying Illinois day by day. It’s becoming a real issue.”

An issue the state may face with the high number of voters is voter fraud. Kankakee County is already investigating allegations of voters voting outside their county and solicitation of bribes for votes. An Iowa woman was just arrested for voting twice.

Strick said instances of voter fraud are a shame, which is why he thinks polling stations should check IDs.

“It’s disheartening,” Strick said. “That’s why I believe we need to have voter ID from people going (to vote). It’s not disenfranchising because most people who need to get to the polls have to get there by driving, or if people are living in assisted areas, like assisted living centers, they have to have some form of identification. I see there is a real problem, and I don’t really see any disenfranchisement going on. People who walk into a polling station, anywhere…most people are happy to pull out their wallets and show their ID.”

Strick said he's against the current policy of checking signatures against a database of registered voters.

“People’s signature changes over time,” Strick said. “If I looked at my signature when I was 16 years old or 18 years old on my driver’s licenses, and if you look at my signature now, there is a marked difference. You get older, your hand becomes slower and your signature looks even worse. I really believe that we need to show some kind of identification when voting. That would be my biggest suggestion.”

Strick said showing some form of identification, whether or not it is an ID card, for verification would root out voter fraud.