# Macomb, IL election judge removed after telling a voter they needed to be shot **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [March 18, 2026, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539 "2026-03-18T04:43:16Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/1 "2026-03-18T04:43:16Z")
This is disgusting! The voter asked for a Democratic ballot, and this is what they were told. Illinois had a primary today (the 17th of March). > **[McDonough County election judge removed after telling voter he ‘needs to be...](https://www.wgem.com/2026/03/18/mcdonough-county-election-judge-removed-after-telling-voter-he-needs-be-shot/?fbclid=IwY2xjawQnC_1leHRuA2FlbQIxMABicmlkETFJTVhCMTlSSGhiYXFOanFGc3J0YwZhcHBfaWQQMjIyMDM5MTc4ODIwMDg5MgABHvkXujkx4BI0GzFvy8qlfNJ1VXr-gHM-QvI7tccPMXFevbr1ENRhT8wyn0vT_aem_q8xdSOBFpAFk3XZlCwG7SQ)** > > The McDonough County clerk has confirmed that an election judge at the First Presbyterian Church in Macomb was removed on Tuesday. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/2 "2026-03-18T04:50:53Z")
They’ve really gotten blatantly bold, thanks to the example of the Felon-in-Chief, eh? At least the judge got promptly booted. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/3 "2026-03-18T04:52:13Z")
I’m surprised they weren’t arrested. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/4 "2026-03-18T04:52:56Z")
The judge or the voter? ---
**Author:** ![running\_coach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/running_coach/32/15836_2.png) [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/5 "2026-03-18T04:57:45Z")
The voter. The judge was just exercising his Constitutional right to establish a police state. ---
**Author:** ![EddyTeddyFreddy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/eddyteddyfreddy/32/18796_2.png) [@EddyTeddyFreddy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/EddyTeddyFreddy)\ **Post date:** [March 18, 2026, 4:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/6 "2026-03-18T04:58:57Z")
Heh. I thought so. ---
**Author:** ![JKellyMap](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jkellymap/32/15880_2.png) [@JKellyMap](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JKellyMap)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 11:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/7 "2026-03-20T11:26:43Z")
It’s helpful to know that Illinois uses the word “election judge” to mean a trained poll worker with certain decision making authority — in Wisconsin, we call them “election inspectors.” This was not a person whose day-to-day profession is a judge of the court. (It doesn’t excise what they did, of course.) ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 11:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/8 "2026-03-20T11:58:47Z")
Perhaps the main reason I’ve gone to mail-in ballots is my dislike for having polling places in churches. I certainly agree that the poll worker’s comment was inexcusable. I wonder, however, about the context and tone. In the article, the voter did not say anything about that. Did the poll worker know the voter? (Macomb is not that small of a place.) Was it intended as a very inappropriate joke? None of that really matters. He should have just kept his mouth shut and was properly removed. But I’m just curious about the context. ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 3:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/9 "2026-03-20T15:48:39Z")
> [@Dinsdale](#): > > Perhaps the main reason I’ve gone to mail-in ballots is my dislike for having polling places in churches. Our church is a polling place. It has absolutely no contact with the voters or the election workers. We give them plenty of parking, a big meeting room to work in (not the sanctuary), access to restrooms and a water fountain, and let the campaigns post their signs no less than 25 feet away from the polling entrance. We don’t charge anything, nor do we ask for a donation. Putting a polling place at a church on a Tuesday is a lot more convenient than disturbing a public school, hospital or other public building. ---
**Author:** ![Dinsdale](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/97f17d/32.png) [@Dinsdale](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dinsdale)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 4:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/10 "2026-03-20T16:07:15Z")
> [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Putting a polling place at a church on a Tuesday is a lot more convenient than disturbing a public school, hospital or other public building. Given my dislike for organized religion, and my exceedingly strong preference for separation between church and state, I would gladly have myself and my government incur any additional inconvenience/expense. In fact, I would argue that placing them in schools would do well to reinforce any lessons on civic engagement - which might occasionally involve some manner of inconvenience. ---
**Author:** ![slash2k](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/439d5e/32.png) [@slash2k](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slash2k)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/11 "2026-03-20T16:29:37Z")
In my part of the world (Kansas), the schools have mostly stopped hosting polling places; having lots of random people entering the building violates their security policies. Nursing homes and assisted living facilities used to host some, but COVID ended that for many. We’ve got ~90 polling places in this county, so a lot of them end up being in churches because they are conveniently located for the voters, usually have ample parking available, are handicap-accessible, and make their fellowship halls or gymnasiums available on Tuesdays for free or at modest prices (I think the county will pay $100 or so, but some decline that). A lot of other potential locations have too much business of their own on a Tuesday. There’s only so many community centers and the like. The American Legion and the VFW have made their meeting halls available in the past, and the (disused) passenger terminal at the airport is a location; fire stations have also been used. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 20, 2026, 6:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/12 "2026-03-20T18:00:21Z")
Moderating: > [@Kent\_Clark](#): > > Our church is a polling place. > [@Dinsdale](#): > > Given my dislike for organized religion, and my exceedingly strong preference for separation between church and state, I would gladly have myself and my government incur any additional inconvenience/expense. > [@slash2k](#): > > In my part of the world (Kansas), the schools have mostly stopped hosting polling places; having lots of random people entering the building violates their security policies. With the above posts, you all are hijacking the thread. There’s an interesting discussion to be had, possibly, but not here. Please stay on topic. Thanks. ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 2:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/13 "2026-03-21T02:54:36Z")
That’s why a church up the road from me does it. Oh, sure, they have their “Jesus Is Lord” sign over the entrance to the sanctuary, but they don’t play hymns at earsplitting volume (someone on another board says her neighborhood polling place does, and not surprisingly, it’s in Oklahoma) or do any proselytizing. I read somewhere, and maybe it was here, that a synagogue was approached about doing this, and they said they would only do it if they could guarantee that no non-kosher food was brought in, whether by workers or voters, or even, say, a baby in a stroller. They were declined for this reason. ETA: I apologize. It doesn’t bother me. ---
**Author:** ![Aspenglow](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aspenglow/32/76_2.png) [@Aspenglow](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Aspenglow)\ **Post date:** [March 21, 2026, 3:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/macomb-il-election-judge-removed-after-telling-a-voter-they-needed-to-be-shot/1028539/14 "2026-03-21T03:05:40Z")
I’m not going to moderate your post for blatantly ignoring the moderation I imposed in the thread just ahead of yours because it’s your thread, but I will say I find it very disrespectful to disregard moderator instructions all the same. Next time, just PM us and tell us you don’t care about the hijacks.