Illinois State Board of Elections met Sept. 21.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
PRESENT: Ian K. Linnabary, Chair
Casandra B. Watson, Vice Chair
William J. Cadigan, Member
Laura K. Donahue, Member
Catherine S. McCrory, Member
William M. McGuffage, Member
Rick S. Terven, Sr., 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 all members present. Chair Linnabary declared that an in person meeting was not practical or prudent pursuant to Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings Act because of rising COVID infection rates and hospitalization rates throughout Illinois.
Chair Linnabary opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.
A 20 year service award was presented to Jason Kilhoffer from the Division of Information Technology.
Chair Linnabary presented the appointment to fill the vacancy on the Legislative Subcommittee and asked for a recommendation. Vice Chair Watson then appointed Member Terven to the Committee and he accepted the appointment.
With respect to the report of the general counsel for campaign disclosure, Vice Chair Watson moved that the Board accept a COVID-19 defense for all Committees that plead a COVID-19 defense for all of 2020 with respect to their filings with proof of a medical diagnosis or positive test. Member Terven seconded the motion. Ms. Malowitz noted that past appeals related to the COVID defense were ruled upon since the amnesty period, and if the board is going to consider this policy, those cases would possibly need to be reevaluated. In addition, the appeals on the current meeting agenda would need to be remanded to the hearing officer to determine if there is sufficient proof of the COVID defense. The board would also have to determine which officers of the committee and/or family members would fall under this defense. Discussion ensued as to which individuals could possibly qualify for the defense, whether or not the person infected with COVID experienced symptoms, the severity of the illness, and past cases where other severe health issues were a factor but not a defense in the final rulings. Several members voiced their concerns with making a decision without enough information or written language for the defense.
Chair Linnabary suggested that if Vice Chair Watson was amenable, that the board direct staff to prepare language memorializing a proposed rule based on the discussion that was had and place it on the next meeting agenda for review and consideration. As to the cases on the agenda for today where someone is present that raises a COVID defense, those cases would be carried over to a future meeting agenda. Chair Linnabary reviewed the motion for the record and stated that it was made by Vice Chair Watson, amended by Member McGuffage and Chair Linnabary and seconded by Member Terven. The final motion was to direct staff to prepare a proposed policy that would grant amnesty for COVID related defenses raised by committee chairmen, committee treasurers related to their affliction with COVID or the affliction of immediate family members under their care, supported by appropriate medical documentation proving the diagnosis.· And that staff look to what other states, the Federal Election Commission and the Election Assistance Commission may have done as guidance as the board consider that proposal. Motion passed by roll call vote of 6-1. Member Donahue voted in the negative.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.1) SBE v. Friends of Bobby Rush, 4617, 20AM006. She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal with respect to the June 2020 quarterly report using the electronic filing defense. However, she disagreed with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal in relation to the September 2020 quarterly report as the electronic filing defense did not apply in this instance. It was noted that the committee did enter the information for the report but did not finalize the submission of the report to make it available for public inspection. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel to grant the appeal in part and deny the appeal in part. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 6-1. Vice Chair Watson voted in the negative.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.2) SBE v. Citizens for Deb Mell, 20627, 20JQ048 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal. Member Cadigan moved to grant the appeal, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
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 4.a.4-7, 9-10, 12, 14-16:
4) SBE v. Iroquois County Republican Central Committee, 352, 20MA002;
5) SBE v. Lockport Township Republican Organization, 4725, 20JQ013;
6) SBE v. Cuba Township Republicans, 25625, 20SQ053;
7) SBE v. Friends of Jake Leahy, 32414, 20JQ098; (
9) SBE v. Citizens to Elect Robert Marshall MD, 33994, 20JQ106;
10) SBE v. Citizens to Support Anthony Driver, Jr, 34553, 20MA033;
12) SBE v. Friends of Ryan Carson, 35081, 20SQ096;
14) SBE v. Back Brent, 35330, 20DQ133;
15) SBE v. Friends of Quintella Bounds, 35372, 20MA042;
16) SBE v. Citizens for Maire Aileen Dempsey, 35460, 20SQ104.
Vice Chair Watson moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Cadigan and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.3) SBE v. Grundy County Democratic Central Committee, 174, 20JQ003 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Warren Kronberger was present on behalf of the committee and explained that the report was filed three days late, and that he thought the 2020 COVID extension was still in place at the time the filing was due. Mr. Kronberger also acknowledged neither he nor his immediately family was diagnosed with COVID during the period of time where the report was due to be filed. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 6-1. Vice Chair Watson voted in the negative.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.8) SBE v. Friends of George D Alpogianis, 32787, 20SQ070 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Ross Secler was present on behalf of the committee and raised a COVID related defense in that the pandemic affected the person responsible for filing the report as well as the candidate himself. Mr. Secler did not know if the person responsible for filing the report was actually infected with COVID. Mr. Secler also noted that the committee did not have any campaign activity during the reporting period and requested the matter be postponed until the board comes to a decision on a COVID amnesty proposal. Member Donahue moved to postpone the matter to a future meeting agenda, which was seconded by Member McGuffage. Member Donahue then withdrew the motion. After discussion, Vice Chair Watson moved to postpone the matter until the November or December meeting agenda. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.13) SBE v. Friends of Maureen Dunne, 35143, 20JQ147 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Maureen Dunne, the Treasurer was present on behalf of the committee and raised a COVID related defense. She indicated that her toddler aged triplets were infected with COVID during the report filing period, which completely disrupted their lives and was the reason for the four day delay in filing the report. Member McGuffage moved to postpone the matter until a future meeting agenda. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.17) SBE v. Andy Knott, 35525, 19SQ158 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Ms. Malowitz further recommended the reports be filed within thirty days and that if the committee remains closed for two years from the date of the last violation, the fine will be abated. Mr. Knott was present on behalf of the committee and explained that he formed a political committee in order to obtain a voter list, and that zero funds were raised or expended. Member McCrory moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel, which was seconded by Member Cadigan and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.18) SBE v. Citizens in Support of Glenview School District 34 Referendum, 35925, 20SQ119. She noted that this matter was considered by the board at its August meeting and was remanded back to the hearing officer in order for the parties and hearing officer to supplement the record. Ms. Malowitz concurred with the updated hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal and that, because the date on the filing receipt may have been manipulated, she recommended referral of the matter to the State’s Attorney and Attorney General. Discussion was had about the authenticity of the receipt and the possibility of issuing a subpoena for the original document receipt. Member McGuffage moved to remand the matter to the hearing officer to issue a subpoena for the person and original receipt and direct board leadership and staff to take the necessary actions to effectuate the motion. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 4.a.11) SBE v. Friends of Erica Firnhaber, 34930, 20JQ141 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Next on the agenda were complaints following public hearing and Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed agenda item 4.a.19) Marshall v. Citizens for Deyon Dean, 20CD019. She concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to find that the committee violated Section 9-10 by failing to disclose its use of the campaign office as an in-kind contribution. The committee should be ordered to amend its quarterly reports ranging from the 2nd quarter of 2019 through the 1st quarter of 2020 to show an in-kind contribution based upon the fair market value of the use of commercial space. The committee should be advised that the board will impose a civil penalty, not to exceed $5,000, on any person who fails or refuses to comply with the final order within the time specified by the board. 26 Ill. Adm. Code 125.420(c). In addition, Ms. Malowitz recommended that pursuant to Section 125.420(d) of the Rules, the board order should provide for a standing order for a period of twelve months from the date of the final order, declaring that “all subsequent reports, statements or filings required by Article 9, during the period the standing order provision is in effect, must be made within the time limits set forth in Article 9, and that any failure or refusal to comply with those filing deadlines shall result in the imposition of civil penalties by the Board in an amount not to exceed $5,000.” Id. 125.420(d). Ryan Morton was present on behalf of the complainant and concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel. He urged the board to adopt the recommendation and impose a civil penalty. Janisse Dean was present on behalf of the respondent and agreed with the recommendation. She explained that she really did not understand in-kind contributions and that the violation was not intentional. Vice Chair Watson moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel. Member Cadigan seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7- 0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 4.a.20) McDonald v. Committee to Elect Judge Gerardo Tristan, Jr, 21CD00. She concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to find that the committee’s amended reports disclosing approximately ¾ of the court fee as an in-kind contribution moots that portion of the complaint, leaving only the issue of whether the committee was required to report the remaining approximately 25% attributable to the attorney’s portion of the fee. Complainant failed to carry its burden to show that the committee was obligated to pay the fee on behalf of the attorney and thus that the committee was required to make disclosure related to it. In addition, Ms. Malowitz agreed that the remaining portion of the complaint should be dismissed. Christopher McDonald was present and indicated he did not agree with the recommendation regarding the attorney fees. Melody Saveall was present on behalf of the respondent and said she concurred with the findings of fact of the hearing officer. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Vice Chair Watson moved to recess to executive session to consider litigation, IT/Cybersecurity updates and personnel matters. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. The meeting recessed at 12:30 p.m. and reconvened at 2:15 p.m. with all members present.
A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments contained on page 140 of the board packet was presented for informational purposes.
The proposed changes to Administrative Rules – Part 212 Personnel were presented and included on pages 141-144 of the board packet. Member Donahue moved to approve the draft rules as presented, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Matthews began her report with an update on the Advisory Committee Meeting that was held on September 16, 2021. Topics included an introduction of the new members, public outreach and publication update, updates on accessible vote by mail legislation, new cyber security legislation and the IVRS rewrite project. Ms. Matthews said the meeting was well attended and the feedback received from the election authorities was positive. The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held in January 2022.
Ms. Matthews presented the legislative update contained on pages 146-148 of the board packet. She noted that it was an informational update with a general timeline for the legislative proposal process.
The IVRS/SLEI project update report was presented and contained on pages 149-150 of the board packet. Ms. Matthews explained that the Statement of Work proposal was included in the memo for board consideration. Member Cadigan moved to approve the Statement of Work proposal as presented. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
The remaining agenda items, voter registration activity, Cyber Navigator Program Annual Report, fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of September and October were presented for informational purposes.
With there being no further business before the board, Member Cadigan moved to adjourn until Tuesday, October 19, 2021. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 2:30 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?MID=BGqTEwpgS6M%3d&T=637724579616278694
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