Dispatch-Argus: Authorities want to know why more than 1,500 absentee ballot applications in Rock Island County  in Illinois were not collected and returned to the county clerk’s office.

Rock Island County State’s Attorney John McGehee on Friday afternoon confirmed the Rock Island County Sheriff’s Department, the Illinois Attorney General’s Office, the U.S. Postal Inspector Service and his office are investigating the incident.

“If something was being done to try and suppress the vote, it is a violation of the election code, which is a felony,” Mr. McGehee. “That’s why this is an ongoing investigation to see if anybody is doing that or not.

Mr. McGehee said he was alerted this week that 1,511 absentee ballot applications were never returned to county election officials. Instead, they sat languishing in a Rock Island post office box.  Read more.