The state Board of Elections has asked Attorney General Kwame Raoul to consider legal action against publishers of far-right fake newspapers and websites that have published the personal information of Illinois voters.
Matt Dietrich, a spokesman for the Board of Elections, said the agency has received dozens of complaints from voters asking how their personal information ended up in the hands of the publisher, Municipal Information Services. Publishing that information on the LGIS website could violate laws that legally prohibit the use of voter identification cards for anything other than “genuine political purposes,” the election commission said. said.
Dietrich said political committees registered with the State Board of Elections are allowed to purchase voter data, including names, addresses and dates of birth, but they cannot use the data for other business purposes. It said its use is expressly prohibited. The commission stopped collecting voters' dates of birth in 2018 to better protect their privacy.
LGIS, which has come to be known as “pink slime” journalism, operates dozens of websites in Illinois and across the country that seek to cover up the far-right Republican campaign's claims. Regular newspapers such as “Chicago City Wire,” “DuPage Policy Journal,” and “Will County Gazette” through mailers and websites.
LGIS is run by Brian Timpone. Brian Timpone is a former unsuccessful gubernatorial candidate, political operative, and ally and business partner of Dan Proft, a right-wing radio talk show host in Naples, Florida.
These publications will feature portraits of mostly black or Hispanic people during the 2022 gubernatorial election, with the implication that violent criminals will be released onto the streets of the city and suburbs. He gained attention for attacking Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker over his cashless bail policy. LGIS supported Republican Darren Bailey.
Proft said he was a “co-owner” of the paper, but his name is not listed as part of LGIS's ownership. The state elections board said it believes the nonpublic information about voters in 2016 came from a political action committee called Liberty Principles PAC that Proft previously ran. Ta. The committee had significant support from conservative national mega-donor Richard Uihlein.
Proft closed that PAC in 2020, but opened a new PAC in 2022 called People Who Play By The Rules, funded by Uihlein.
That PAC is still active and spent tens of millions of dollars supporting Mr. Bailey's failed challenge to Mr. Pritzker's re-election. He still owes a $25,000 fine imposed by the State Board of Elections for failing to timely report his campaign spending.
The State Board of Elections also allowed proceedings to continue in a complaint alleging that Proft illegally conspired with Bailey through the People Who Play By the Rules PAC. PACs are independent spending committees and cannot coordinate their activities with the candidates they support.
Proft regularly featured Bailey on his radio show, and their discussions were frequently reflected in LGIS publications.
Dietrich said the information posted on the LGIS website contains a number of inaccuracies that purport to show which voters in specific precincts did or did not vote in the 2020 presidential election. He said there was.
Dietrich said the board repeatedly asked LGIS representatives to delete the personal data, but they refused. In response, the committee asked the attorney general to consider legal action.
It was not immediately clear whether Mr. Proft's People Play by the Rules PAC had purchased a copy of the 2020 voter database. The Election Commission said it did not know how LGIS obtained the 2020 voter list.
“It's unfortunate that the organization shows so little consideration for its constituents,” said Bernadette Matthews, the board's executive director.
Attempts to contact Proft and Timpone were unsuccessful.
In 2012, the Chicago Tribune reported that Journatic, the former Timpon company, had been suspended after an investigation found evidence of plagiarism by the company, which relied on overseas freelance writers who frequently used fake bylines. has terminated its agreement to invest in and use news articles produced by the company.
Last January, Timpone attended a workshop for conservative school board candidates sponsored in part by Awake Illinois, a far-right group based in Naperville. At the event, Timpone offered the use of his own publications, saying, “We can fight back at you,” adding, “If someone is giving you a hard time, we can fix it.” Ta.