Illinois AG files TRO against news group that refuses to remove voter information

Last month, the State Board of Elections (SBE) asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to consider legal action against Local Government Information Services (LGIS), a publishing business operated by co-founder Brian Timpone and reportedly backed by failed gubernatorial candidate Dan Proft of Naples, Florida.

You see, LGIS, which operates the Chambana Sun and 19 other news sites focused on local news, is under scrutiny because they recently published voting information for every voting precinct in the state. In addition to listing a breakdown of support by party, the automated story also divulges the number of registered voters and number residents in the district.

Here is an example from one of the Tolono precincts:

"The voting breakdown in Southeastern Township of Tolono: Precinct Tolono 1 reveals 59.6% of the total supporting Republicans, and 36.8% of the votes for Democrats, highlighting the precinct's political preferences.

Overall, 170 registered voters in the Southeastern Township of Tolono: Precinct Tolono 1 did not vote in 2020.

Additionally, an estimated total of 1,546 residents were reported to be aged 18 or older in Southeastern Township of Tolono: Precinct Tolono 1, according to the last US Census and the 2021 American Community Survey."

~ Chambana Sun

That information is pretty vanilla. Where the defendants may have crossed the line legally if not morally, is each article lists the full name of the voter, their birthdate, their address, and whether they voted in the 2020 election or not. No doubt scammers and identity thieves are absolutely tickled pink having unfettered access to the information.

Local county clerks and the SBE have received complaints from concerned voters statewide.

Despite the SBE's request that the sensitive information be removed from the Chambana Sun and their other news sites, LGIS has seemingly ignored the state authority that regulates election integrity and information. On Friday, A.G. Raoul filed a TRO request in Lake County against LGIS alleging violations of the state election codes.

Plaintiffs, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul on behalf of the People of the State of Illinois and the Illinois State Board of Elections, by their attorney, Kwame Raoul, Attorney General of the State of Illinois, submit this Memorandum of Law in Support of their Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order and Preliminary Injunction, against Defendant, Local Government Information Services, Inc., based on Defendant’s publication of sensitive voter registration information in violation of Sections 4-8, 5-7, and 6-35 of the Illinois Election Code. 10 ILCS 5/4-8, 5-7, and 6-35."

The Attorney General claims that LGIS is not a political committee and could not have legally obtained the voter information. Typically, political action committees can purchase the State Board of Elections' voter file for political reasons. Use of the information can be used for other business purposes.

Timpone, once the CEO of the Greater Illinois News Group which briefly owned newspapers in Champaign, Douglas, and Moultrie Counties, worked locally as a TV reporter and covered the capitol for WCIA-TV decades ago. You can't discuss the term "Pink-Slime Journalism" without his name. According to the New York Times, "The sites operated by Timpone's networks do not typically post false information, but "the operation is rooted in deception, eschewing hallmarks of news reporting like fairness and transparency".

Proft, who at one time portrayed himself as part-owner of LGIS and earned a law degree from the Loyola University Chicago School of Law, dipped a toe into Illinois politics back in 2009 when he tossed his hat into the ring for the governor's seat. Frost-bitten in the cold world of campaigning, he received only 7.78% of the Republican vote in the primary, coming in sixth in the seven-way race. According to various sources, his name does not appear on corporate ownership documents.

Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, told Fox 2 News last month that LGIS has no right to publish the data from 2016.

“They are not entitled to have that file, which was obtained under the idea it was for a political action committee and to be used for political purposes,” he told the Fox affiliate.

Obviously, the managing team for the Lake Forest-based company believes otherwise. The information is still readily available on Chambana Sun and other sites under their control.


Despite recent legislation, Illinois libraries continue to receive requests to ban certain books

by Mark Richardson
Illinois News Connection

"... many of the challenges Illinois libraries have received are from right-wing ideological groups."
CHICAGO - It has become almost routine in modern America: activist groups demanding libraries pull what they consider "objectionable books" from their shelves, but it is a practice dating back to the Middle Ages.

This is Banned Books Week, when librarians and educators inform readers some organizations are trying to keep certain books out of public hands, especially for children.

Cynthia Robinson, executive director of the Illinois Library Association, said the number of "challenges" has grown significantly over the past few years.

"Somebody will get a list that comes from maybe someone they know or some other organization, and then they will just take it to the library and say, 'I want to remove these books. They're not good,'" Robinson explained. "They haven't read them, but they don't think anyone else should be able to."

One of the earliest known cases of banning a book was by King James the First in 1597, and the first known incident in the New World was in 1637 in Massachusetts.

Robinson pointed out many of the challenges Illinois libraries have received are from right-wing ideological groups. Many of those who challenge books say they are not seeking to ban them, but want them to only be available to "appropriate" age groups.

Robinson acknowledged if a particular book is taken from library shelves, people have the ability to purchase it themselves, but it still keeps it from those who cannot afford it.

"The books that are being challenged are what we would call 'diverse' books," Robinson outlined. "They are books that are about people who are LGBTQ or BIPOC people, people of color. These are the books being challenged in libraries."

Robinson added some librarians and staff have had to take precautions for their personal safety, and in some cases, they have needed legal assistance to fight litigious groups. But she thinks in the end, it hurts everyone who uses the library.

"It weakens the community, because people need to see people like themselves in libraries," Robinson asserted. "If you are a queer person, you want to see yourself representative in the community. If you are a person of color, you want to see yourself in the library."


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