Inmates claim jail guards are pressuring them to vote illegally in Chicago mayoral election

Chicago inmates have claimed they are being pressured to vote illegally in the city’s mayoral election.

The inmates, some of whom are charged with murder, argued that Cook County jail guards were pressuring them to vote, even though some were registered in a different jurisdiction.

They claimed that the guards took orders from above and “just did what I was told” when confronted about the move.

It comes amid vote-harvesting fears, as inmates said the jail was the “ideal environment” because there were no cameras or election observers.

He also raised concerns that he could propel Lori Lightfoot back into office, even though she languished at just 13 percent in the polls.

An inmate, speaking on condition of anonymity, told DailyMail.com that the guards did not seem to care that they might be breaking the law.

He said: ‘I asked [the guard], ‘Did you ask people first if they are registered to vote?’ And he said ‘no’.

‘I said but you should because if I’m registered to vote elsewhere like I am, you’re asking and tempting me to vote even though I’m registered elsewhere and that’s a felony. I cannot be voting in two different jurisdictions.

He claims that another guard told him that “I was only doing what I was told”.

An inmate held on murder charges also says that 21 of the 48 inmates in his Division 11 have already voted, but none were asked if they were registered or eligible to vote.

‘Do they just say who wants to vote? Line up to vote,’ she said.

An unnamed source familiar with the Cook County Jail said it is the ideal setting for vote collection.

The cameras inside the jail are notoriously not working. There are no poll watchers. If an inmate complains, who would believe him? So if you wanted to tamper with a ballot, who would know?’

There are 7,480 inmates in the custody of the Cook County Sheriff, of whom 72.3 percent are black, 19 percent Latino and 7.8 percent white.

The inmates’ crimes range from murder and car theft to sexual assault of a minor and armed robbery.

Chicago voters say violent crime is their top concern in the mayoral race, and it continues to skyrocket under Lightfoot.

With nine candidates, including Mayor Lightfoot, vying for Chicago mayor, the source said the political stakes are high and top Cook County jail officials are pushing for a vote in the prison for the race for the mayor’s office this week.

Last week, Lightfoot came under fire for telling voters on Chicago’s South Side that they shouldn’t vote at all if they don’t vote to re-elect her. She now insists that she was wrong.

She said: ‘If I said anything else that everyone everywhere needs to vote, then I spoke badly in the heat of a campaign rally.

“But I’ve always been very consistent in saying that everyone everywhere should step up, and they should vote like I said today.

Last week, Lightfoot came under fire for telling voters on Chicago’s South Side that they shouldn’t vote at all if they don’t vote to re-elect her. She now she insists that she was wrong

Lightfoot was also criticized for posting a graphic on Twitter encouraging Chicagoans to vote more than once in mayoral elections.

The latest polls show former Chicago Public Schools CEO Paul Vallas expanding his lead to 32 percent, Cook County Board Commissioner Brandon Johnson to 18 percent and Mayor Lightfoot struggling to 13 percent.

Fourteen percent remain undecided. If no candidate wins a clear majority of the vote, a runoff will take place on April 4.

Election officials anticipate multiple requests for recounts, which won’t begin until two to three weeks after Tuesday’s election.

Lightfoot has struggled in his re-election bid for Chicago mayor as voters say they feel unsafe in the crime-ridden city.

A Cook County Sheriff’s spokesman said: “It appears that neither you nor the people making these claims understand how the voting process works.”

‘The jail merely serves as a polling place, and the Sheriff’s Office has no oversight of voting operations or polling place procedures at all.

“Registered voters are free to choose whether they would like to vote, but no one who is not registered to vote can vote in an election, including Tuesday’s election.”