Illinois State Board of Elections Met June 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 M. McGuffage, Member
Katherine S. O’Brien, Member
Casandra B. Watson, Member
ABSENT: William R. Haine, Member
ALSO PRESENT: Bernadette M. Matthews, Acting Executive Director Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel
Amy L. Calvin, Administrative Assistant III
The meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom videoconference with seven Members present. Chair Scholz, Vice Chair Linnabary and Members Cadigan and McGuffage were present in Chicago and Members Donahue, O’Brien and Watson were present via Zoom. Member Haine was absent and Chair Scholz held his proxy.
Chair Scholz opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.
The board then recognized outgoing Chair Scholz and Member O’Brien and thanked them for their service and commitment.
The following staff members were presented with service awards from 2020: Brent Davis and Darcell McAllister for 15 years of service; Walter Blakney and Andy Nauman for 20 years of service; and Amy Calvin for 30 years of service.
Chair Scholz presented and recited a resolution in honor of Executive Director Steve Sandvoss, who tendered his retirement effective June 30.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the May 17 meeting as presented. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz began her report with an outstanding matter from the May board meeting. She indicated that a vote was necessary to ratify the action taken in executive session regarding the term appointment renewal of Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting and Registration Systems. Member Cadigan moved to approve the four year term appointment renewal for Mr. Thomas, which was seconded by Member McGuffage 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 5.a.1) SBE v. The Republican Central Committee of Hamilton County, 248, 19MA094. Ms. Malowitz also recommended denial of the settlement offer because it did not comply with the settlement offer policy. James Van Winkle was present on behalf of the committee and explained the extenuating circumstances. He said the fine was very excessive for the situation and then offered a settlement of $2,500. After discussion, Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal and accept the settlement offer of $2,500. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 5.a.2) Altheimer v. Friends of Lori Wilcox, 20CD003 and summarized the matter. She recommended adoption of all findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations of the hearing officer, noting that the respondents admitted to incorrect statements in the committee’s reports and requested that the Board order the committee to amend the relevant reports. Ms. Malowitz also recommended that the committee be ordered to file the amended reports within thirty days and failure to do so would result in a civil penalty up to $5,000 for each report not amended. Scott Erdman was present on behalf of the complainant and explained why he did not concur with the recommendation. It was agreed by all to issue an interim order and place the matter on the August meeting agenda to allow the board sufficient time to review all of the materials. Member Cadigan moved to order the committee to file the amended reports and place the matter on the August meeting agenda for consideration. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 5.a.3) Altheimer v. Bloom Township Democratic Organization, 20CD004 and summarized the matter. She recommended adoption of all findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations of the hearing officer that were characterized as within the scope of the Board order. Ms. Malowitz also recommended that the committee be ordered to file the amended reports within thirty days and failure to do so would result in a civil penalty up to $5,000 for each report not amended. She did not recommend adoption of the findings of fact, conclusions of law and recommendations of the hearing officer on matters outside the scope of the board order. Mr. Erdman was present on behalf of the complainant and offered his comments similar to the previous matter. It was agreed by all to issue an interim order and place the matter on the August meeting agenda to allow the board sufficient time to review all of the materials. Member Watson moved to order the committee to file the amended reports and place the matter on the August meeting agenda for consideration. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following complaints following public hearing for agenda items 5.a.4- 17:
4) SBE v. Friends of Robin Rue, 32253, 21CD009;
5) SBE v. Friends of Ebonie S. Davis, 34127, 21CD015;
6) SBE v. The People for Johnae Strong, 34222, 21CD016;
7) SBE v. Aaron4Science, 34301, 21CD017;
8) SBE v. Committee to Elect Daniel Trujillo, 34522, 21CD019;
9) SBE v. Friends for Paul Villarreal, 34586, 21CD021;
10) SBE v. Friends of Anthony L. McCaskill, Inc, 34590, 21CD022;
11) SBE v. Friends of Jason Honig for the Common Good, 34660, 21CD023;
12) SBE v. Citizens for Francis Frye, 34664, 21CD024;
13) SBE v. Renne Tex Chavez for 31st Ward, 34984, 21CD028;
14) SBE v. People for Price; 35028, 21CD030;
15) SBE v. Friends of Betty Ibarra, 35060, 21CD031;
16) SBE v. Wheeling Residents for Deborah L. Wilson, 35273, 21CD033;
17) SBE v. Citizens to Elect Gregory Thomas, 35399, 21CD037.
She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation that the complaints be upheld and issue a Board order requiring the delinquent report(s) be filed within 30 days of the order or face a fine up to $5,000. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendations of the hearing officer as amended by the general counsel for the above noted complaints. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 5.a.18) SBE v. Friends of Michelle Hagy for Fayette County Treasurer, 34115, 21CD014 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation that no further action be taken beyond the imposition of civil penalties. She also found that the committee violated Section 9-10(b) of the Election Code by failing to file certain reports by their statutory due dates. Ms. Hagy was present on behalf of the committee and explained it was her first time operating a political action committee. She explained the circumstances surrounding the late filings and apologized for the error. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer as supplemented by the general counsel. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments was presented for informational purposes.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider complaints following closed preliminary hearing. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting recessed at 11:55 a.m. and reconvened at 12:25 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 5.a.20) Gassmere v. Presta, 21CD043, Member Cadigan moved to dismiss the complaint for want of prosecution. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
As to agenda item 5.a.21) Britton v. Rueckert, 21CD044, Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
As to agenda item 5.a.22) Korman v. Glenview Firefighters Local 4186, 21CD046, Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer as supplemented by the general counsel. Member O’Brien seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews began her report with the legislative update and referred to the report included on pages 75-78 of the board packet. She said the last few days of session were very active and legislative staff worked around the clock throughout the weekend. Angela Ryan, Director of Legislation reviewed her written report. The omnibus election bill passed, which amongst other things, changed the general primary election date to June 28, 2022. The legislative and representative redistricting maps were signed and the congressional maps would be drawn at a later date. She noted other highlights of the Omnibus Bill, which included cybersecurity standards for the election authorities, permits voter registration to be conducted in high schools, extension of the redistricting deadline for the local election authorities to December 31, 2021 and other clean up language. In addition, she informed the board that the Ethic Reform Bill also passed, which limits certain political activity for board members. Discussion ensued regarding the revised election calendar and petition filing dates for the June 28 general primary election as well as the redistricting project cost and timeline.
Next on the agenda was the IVRS/SLEI update and Ms. Matthews noted that a written report was included on pages 79-80. Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting & Registrations reviewed the memo and noted that thirteen election authorities agreed to participate in the IVRS rewrite committee. The first committee meeting was conducted on June 9 and the committee will continue to meet on a bi-weekly basis. The voter registration activity report for the month of May was presented for informational purposes.
Ms. Matthews briefed the board on the Chicago office relocation and indicated that the build out would not be completed until the end of July. Because of this, the anticipated move would take place on August 1 instead of July 1.
The fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of June and July were presented for informational purposes.
The next item on the agenda was comments from the general public and Chair Scholz noted that two individuals filed a request to address the board. George Weckbacher offered his comments regarding the complaint he filed with the board concerning voting systems in use in Illinois, voting security and the certification process. Dr. Albert Klumpff addressed the board regarding concerns about ballot position and presented his research findings related to lotteries and ballot order.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session for litigation, cybersecurity and personnel matters. Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 1:25 p.m. and reconvened at 2:05 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the May 17 executive session meeting minutes as presented. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
With there being no further business, Member Cadigan moved to adjourn until Thursday, July 1, 2021. Vice Chair Linnabary seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 2:05 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?MID=BGqTEwpgS6M%3d&T=637657052515222730
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