Dupage Policy Journal

Safe Suburbs USA PAC is calling out a reported rash of mailbox robberies leading up to the Nov. 8 general election. 

“Thesemailboxx robberies were happening pre-election. Good time to make sure your ballot arrived if you voted by mail,” Safe Suburbs said on Twitter.

Safe Suburbs USA: ‘These mailbox robberies were happening re-election

Safe Suburbs’ commentary comes after a report by WBBM-AM noting a rash of mailbox break-ins in DuPage county in which identity theft was a concern since at least October, far ahead of the election. “There's been a recent wave of thieves breaking into large postal mailboxes,” WBBM’AM’s Rachel Pearson reported. Naperville police said nine break-ins have been reported throughout the city over the past two months.

The DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has been broadly criticized for her handling of ballots to ensure integrity. 

Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst), a state legislator, questioned the DuPage County Clerk's methods and the court issued a temporary restraining order against the clerk on her behalf "improperly using Vote by Mail applications to validate a voter's signature on a Vote by Mail ballot.” 

Kaczmarek's office was ordered in court to stop the practice.

Mazzochi brought up the court's decision "using a Vote by Mail application to qualify signatures on the Vote by Mail ballot itself would be an obvious way to commit ballot fraud."

Before the Nov. 8 election, Kaczmarek was accused of blocking Carol Davis, chairman of the Illinois Conservative Union, said Kaczmarek blocked her from serving as an election judge. 

"I’ve been an election judge here in Illinois for 18 election cycles," Davis said. "Now, that’s been in DuPage County. Over the last several years I have been outspoken about the procedures not being followed. The law is not being followed. Our county clerk here in DuPage County Jean Kaczmarek blacklisted me from working as a judge this year.”

Kaczmarek also oversaw the 2020 election in which then County Auditor Bob Grogan saw his election night lead erased as mail-in ballots filled out in his opponent’s name continued to be counted post-election. Eventually, Grogan’s Democrat opponent William White took the lead by 75 votes. 

The race went to a limited recount which Grogan ultimately lost. He also noted the integrity of mail-in ballots. 

“My gut (feeling) is there is a lot of little fraud. We found a lot of ballots that didn’t have judges' initials, which makes you suspicious. We asked for a list of everybody that voted and it was over 1,600 less than the ballots cast,” Grogan told DuPage Policy Journal.