Champaign County Clerk's Office Faces Renewed Scrutiny Over Persistent Voting Integrity Issues and Ballot Errors

**FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE**

**February 16, 2026**

**Champaign County Clerk's Office Faces Renewed Scrutiny Over Persistent Voting Integrity Issues and Ballot Errors**

Urbana, IL – Concerned citizens and election integrity advocates are once again sounding the alarm over repeated failures in Champaign County's election administration under County Clerk Aaron Ammons. These lapses threaten the fairness of our elections and public confidence in the democratic process.

Most recently, the Champaign County Republican Party was contacted by voters who received ballots with the name of Republican gubernatorial candidate Ted Dabrowski misspelled. The Dabrowski campaign has confirmed the error. This misspelling raises serious concerns that votes cast for Dabrowski could be deemed invalid if the printed name does not match the candidate's legal name. All Republican candidates deserve fair treatment and an equal opportunity to compete in the March 17, 2026, primary and ultimately challenge the incumbent governor.

This latest error is part of a troubling pattern of incompetence under Clerk Ammons. Over recent election cycles, the office has repeatedly demonstrated lax oversight, technical failures, and questionable practices that disenfranchise voters and erode trust.

November 2024, Champaign County voters arrived at polling places to find the entire voting system offline the only such failure among Illinois' 102 counties. The outage halted voter verification, ballot printing, and vote casting in a system heavily reliant on on-demand electronic ballot generation. Voters faced long lines, were turned away, or endured delays. The Clerk's Office resolved the issue after about two hours, but questions remain about backup systems, redundancy, and preparedness. There is no reliable way to determine how many eligible voters were ultimately unable to cast ballots due to the disruption.

November 2022, a reported series of alleged DDoS cyberattacks slowed Election Day processes, exposing vulnerabilities in the county's electronic systems.

Also in November 2022, photographic evidence showed unsealed ballots in a Deputy County Clerk's vehicle, leading to a lawsuit and a temporary court order barring the deputy from election duties. The Clerk's Office later explained these as "test ballots" for printer and equipment checks. The incident resulted in a settlement mandating that test ballots be sealed and retained for 60 days post-election, this measure that underscored prior inadequacies in handling materials.

At the time of this release, there has been no action by the County Clerk nor the State's Attorney to rectify the election process, reprint ballots, or otherwise resolve the misspelling in a way that ensures fairness and prevents potential voter disenfranchisement countywide.

The Champaign County Republican Party demands a full review of the election processes. Voters must have faith in the system. We call for common-sense reforms, including voter ID requirements, hand-marked paper ballots, and single-day in-person voting on Election Day to restore integrity and prevent future failures.

For more information or to arrange interviews, contact:

Jeff Brownfield

Vice Chair, Champaign County Republican Party

217-377-1166

[email protected]

**End of Release**