Joan Agnew
Chicago Board of Elections Commission
69 W Washington St, Suites 600
Chicago, IL 60602

Email: FOIAOfficer@chicagoelections.com

Re: Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) Request for Release of Vendor-Provided Election System Logs Pursuant to VVSG 2.0 Guidelines

Dear Ms. Joan Agnew:

Pursuant to the Freedom of Information Act, 5 U.S.C. § 552, as amended, and the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, 5 ILCS 140/1 et seq., I hereby request access to and copies of the following records held by the Chicago Board of Elections Commission or obtainable from vendors under your authority:

1. All in-election system logs from ballot scanners and touch-screen voting machines provided by vendors for Chicago municipal elections, specifically including complete event logs with timestamps recorded to the second, for the primary elections held in March 17 2020 and March 19 2024.

2. Such logs shall be released in accordance with the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) 2.0, as promulgated by the U.S. Election Assistance Commission (EAC), which provide for the public disclosure of non-proprietary system logs at the discretion of the Election Board or Commission authority, excluding any sensitive personally identifiable information (PII) or proprietary trade secrets as defined under applicable exemptions.

The purpose of this request is to facilitate independent forensic analysis and modeling of stochastic processes for the identification of potential voting machine irregularities or fraud indicators in the aforementioned elections. This analysis aligns with the public interest in election integrity and transparency, without intent to compromise ongoing systems or security.

Please provide the requested records in electronic format, if available (such as CSV, XML, or native log file formats), to minimize costs and expedite processing. If any portion of the records is withheld, please provide a detailed Vaughn index specifying the exemption claimed and the basis for each redaction or denial, as required under the Illinois FOIA.

I request a waiver of all fees associated with this request, as the disclosure of the information is in the public interest and will contribute significantly to public understanding of election system operations and integrity, without commercial gain on my part. If fees are not waived, please inform me in advance if the estimated costs exceed $25.

If you have any questions or require clarification, please contact me at the email address or phone number provided above. Under the Illinois Freedom of Information Act, you are required to respond within 5 business days (with a possible 5-day extension under certain circumstances). If the request is denied in whole or in part, please advise of the applicable appeal procedures.

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter.

Sincerely,

Jason Page
Page Telegram