Illinois State Board of Elections Met March 15.
Here is the minutes provided by the board:
PRESENT: Charles W. Scholz, Chair
Ian K. Linnabary, Vice Chair
William J. Cadigan, Member
Laura K. Donahue, Member
William R. Haine, Member
William M. McGuffage, Member
Katherine S. O’Brien, Member
Casandra B. Watson, Member
ALSO PRESENT: Steven S. Sandvoss, Executive Director
Bernadette M. Matthews, Asst. Exec. Director
Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel
Amy L. Calvin, Administrative Assistant III
The meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom videoconference with all members present. Chair Scholz opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the February 17 meeting as presented. Member O’Brien seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a settlement offer for agenda item 2.a.1) SBE v. Support for Adam Winston, 32428, 18MQ119 and summarized the matter. She recommended acceptance of the settlement offer. Vice Chair Linnabary moved to accept the recommendation of the general counsel, which was seconded by Member Watson and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeals for agenda items 2.a.2-4: 2) SBE v. Citizens for Joe Sosnowski, 19040, 20AD017;
3) SBE v. Rock Island Firefighters Local 26 PAC, 19670, 20AD019
4) SBE v. Phil Banaszek Campaign Fund, 24545, 20DQ041.
Member Cadigan moved to grant the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Vice Chair Linnabary and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal and order the committee to file the amended report for agenda item 2.a.8) SBE v. Friends of Daniel Hebreard, 34545, 20AD035. Robert Sacks was present on behalf of the committee and was advised to contact a staff member for clarification on the filing of the amended report. Member Cadigan moved to grant the appeal and order the committee to file the amended report. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeals and order the committees to file the amended reports for agenda item 2.a.6, 9 &10:
6) SBE v. Committee to Elect Jennifer Bertino Tarrant, 19797, 20AM013;
9) SBE v. Committee to Elect Judge Gerardo Tristan, Jr., 35535, 20AM034;
10) SBE v. Overstreet 2020, 35782, 20AM047.
Member Cadigan moved to grant the appeals and order the committees to file the amended reports. Member O’Brien seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to grant the appeals for agenda items 2.a.5 & 7:
5) SBE v. Friends of Frerichs, 14111, 20AM009;
7) SBE v. Friends of Josina Morita, 25450, 20AD023.
Ms. Malowitz noted that these two committees filed the required amended reports, therefore, it was not necessary to order them to do so. Vice Chair Linnabary moved to grant the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Cadigan and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeals for agenda items 2.a.11-18:
11) SBE v. Citizens for Lofchie, 21503, 19JQ048;
12) SBE v. Friends of David A Welter, 32191, 19AS018;
13) SBE v. Northwest Side GOP Club, 32621, 20AM021;
14) SBE v. The Committee for Economic Justice in Cook County, 34455, 20AM026;
15) SBE v. Let Forest Park Grow, 34743, 19MA058;
16) SBE v. Voters for Holtz, 34285, 19MQ093;
17) SBE v. Citizens for Facts First, 34824, 20AD037;
18) SBE v. Silverstein for Judge, 35600, 20AD045.
Member Cadigan moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Vice Chair Linnabary and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal for agenda item 2.a.19) SBE v. Friends for Eva Dina Delgado, 35786, 20AD052. She noted that the electronic filing defense did not apply because the committee failed to contact staff within three days as required, and that the fine would be stayed as a first time offense. Ms. Delgado was present on behalf of the committee and said she agreed with the recommendation. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal and the fine be stayed as recommended. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal for agenda item 2.a.20) SBE v. Illinois Justice & Public Safety PAC, 35859, 20AM050. Jonathan Berkon was present on behalf of the committee and discussed his interpretation of the A-1 filings in that the requirement should kick in after the committee is registered. After discussion, Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal and abate the fine as long as the committee remained dissolved for two years. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a listing of civil penalty assessments necessitating a final board order. She noted that five committees paid their fines and should be removed from the list. Vice Chair Linnabary moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 121-123 of the board packet, excluding the committees noted by the general counsel. Member Cadigan seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
A listing of payments of civil penalties was presented for informational purposes.
The random audits of political committees memo was presented and Ms. Malowitz explained that Campaign Disclosure Director Tom Newman was requesting authorization to audit 1.5% of committees for the upcoming audit period. Member Cadigan moved to approve the request for random audits of political committees as outlined in Mr. Newman’s memo. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Vice Chair Linnabary moved to recess to executive session to consider a complaint following closed preliminary hearing. Member Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 11:00 a.m. and reconvened at 11:20 a.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 2.a.23) McDonald v. Tristan, 21CD001, Member Cadigan moved that the matter proceed to a public hearing as to the allegations that the committee violated 9-10 by failing to report a court appearance fee in litigation, that the issue of signatures is found to be filed not on justifiable grounds and the remaining issues are not ripe for board consideration at this time. Member Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Mr. Sandvoss began his report with an update on the 2021 Consolidated Elections. He said that the April 6 election day assignments were included on page 125 of the board packet and asked Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting and Registration Systems, to report on voting systems pre election testing. Mr. Thomas said that the counties of Bureau, Hamilton, Ogle, Piatt, Wabash and Washington were selected for testing and that he would present a complete report at the next board meeting.
Angela Ryan, Director of Legislation, began her report with an update on the board’s 2021 legislative initiates included on pages 126-128 of the board packet. She also noted that a listing and summary of elections related legislation was included on pages 29-138 of the board packet. She reviewed the legislation that impacted the agency and responded to questions from the board. Ms. Ryan informed that board that the Senate Budget Hearing was scheduled for April 7 at 5:00 p.m. and the House Budget Hearing was scheduled for May 6 at 8:00 a.m. Ms. Ryan noted that after a meeting with James Whitehorn, Chief of the Redistricting and Voting Rights Data of the U.S. Census Bureau, she was informed that their timeline was strict and that many Secretaries of State voiced their concerns about the lack of census data for the redistricting project. The National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) indicated they may create a working group to deal with the late census data. Ms. Ryan said that HR1 was passed, that S1 would be introduced in the Senate next week and that she would inform the board of any updates she receives.
Mr. Sandvoss presented the IVRS rewrite update and said that a memo regarding the progress of the project was contained on pages 139-141 of the board packet. Mr. Thomas reviewed the memo and indicated that Dustin Schultz, Lead Project Manager, was doing an excellent job thus far.
The voter registration activity update and staff reports on the 2021 Virtual NASED Winter Conference were presented for informational purposes.
Ms. Matthews discussed the Chicago office relocation and indicated the proposed Intragovernmental Agreement (IGA) would be considered at the April 15 meeting of the Cook County Board. She noted that if the IGA is approved at that meeting, it is anticipated that staff would occupy the new space in June as planned.
Mr. Sandvoss presented the proposed permanent Telework Policy and reviewed Jeremy Kirk’s memo and supporting documents on pages 154-188 of the board packet. He discussed the telework policy that has been in place this past year due to the pandemic and said that the majority of staff demonstrated that their duties and responsibilities have been successfully completed while working from home. He also noted that a few employees required physical presence in the office to perform their duties. Mr. Sandvoss said that the physical office space needs could be reduced if the telework policy would be offered on a voluntary, permanent basis. He felt that the telework benefit would be a competitive recruiting tool since more companies in the private sector offer this benefit to their employees. Mr. Kirk indicated that he knew of roughly three other state agencies that are possibly considering a permanent telework policy post-pandemic. After discussion, Vice Chair Linnabary moved to adopt the telework policy as presented on an interim basis and present a review to the board within six months. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
The fiscal status reports and staff activity were presented for informational purposes.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session for the purpose of litigation and personnel, which was seconded by Member Watson and passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 12:15 p.m. and reconvened at 1:55 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
With there being no further business, the board unanimously agreed to adjourn until Tuesday, April 20, 2021. The meeting adjourned at 1:55 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?Year=1nhNJh%2bOwGsDgrAgU8WEUQ%3d%3d&T=637591801252483275
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