URBANA, Ill. (WAND) - The Champaign County clerk might have counted early votes before he was legally allowed to, The News-Gazette reports.Â
According to the newspaper, a first summary report of primary election results had a time stamp of 10:19 p.m. Monday. Democratic county clerk Aaron Ammons posted this report soon after the polls closed Tuesday. Â
Republican county recorder Mark Shelden said state law requires early ballots to only be counted after polls close and with both political parties present.Â
"I cannot emphasize enough how out of line this is," he told the paper. "Literally, in the dark of night, they're counting votes with no Republicans present and uploading them into the system."Â
When The News-Gazette reached out to Ammons for comment, he said he couldn't answer questions due to his busy schedule, adding "now is not the time".Â
Sheldon posted part of the report, which includes the timestamp, on the Facebook page of the Champaign County Republican Party.
Illinois State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich confirmed with the newspaper that it appeared Ammons' office ran numbers early, but said there was no evidence any information was released to the public before the polls closed, which could have influenced voters.
Unofficial totals showed 32,917 total ballots cast in Champaign County, 46 percent of which were sent and received by the end of the early voting schedule. There were 13,235 early in person votes and 2,064 sent by mail.Â
Mailed ballots must be postmarked by the election. Ammons has to receive and count them by March 31.Â
Shelden told The News-Gazette he doesn't trust the results and thinks there should be a recount. He filed complaints with the state's attorney's office and state board of elections.
Dietrich said it's unclear if board will give the complaint to the Champaign County state's attorney or to the state attorney general.
