Lake County Gazette

Willard Helander, former Lake County clerk of elections, will speak at the Midwest Election Integrity Summit.

The Midwest Election Integrity Summit will be held May 20 from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. at Gerogios, located at 88000 West 159th St. in Orland Park. 

“Learn successful strategies from across the nation," a flyer promoting the event reads. "Connect and work with election integrity advocates in your own county and state. Learn how to join an existing or develop a local election integrity team. Tap into statewide and national networks to inform and empower your election integrity goals." 

Willard Helander | Willard Helander/LinkedIn

In addition to Helander, speakers will include Hayden Ludwig, director of policy research for Restoration of America; Lynn Taylor, president of the Virginia Institute and Chairwoman of The Virginia Coalition; Ned Jones of the Election Integrity Network; and Carol Davis, chairwoman of the Illinois Conservative Union and former director of the FreedomWorks Election Protection Initiative.

The keynote speaker will be Ken Cuccinelli, national chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, Davis announced on Facebook.

“We're very excited to announce our Keynote Speaker for the May 20th Summit will be the Honorable Ken Cuccinelli, National Chairman, Election Transparency Initiative,' Davis said in his post. "We hope patriots who are serious about honest and transparent elections will join us. Registration link: http://bit.ly/3jMxFQI."

Cuccinelli also serves as leader of the Never Back Down PAC, which was set up to support Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis in his expected White House run. 

“I have been speaking to many grassroots conservative activists around the country who are very enthusiastic for Governor DeSantis to run for president in 2024,” Cuccinelli said in a statement, according to CNN. “The energy is there, grassroots conservatives see the governor as a leader and a fighter with a winning conservative track record who will lead the Republican Party to victory in 2024. Based on those conversations, I am most confident that we will build an unmatched grassroots political army for Governor DeSantis to help carry him to the White House.”