Illinois State Board of Elections met Oct. 19.
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 11:10 a.m. via Zoom conference with all Members present. Chair Linnabary and Members Cadigan, McCrory and McGuffage were present in the Chicago office and Member Donahue was present in the Springfield office. Vice Chair Watson and Member Terven were present via Zoom conference.
Chair Linnabary opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance. He then thanked everyone for their patience during the technical difficulties experienced with the Zoom conference connection.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the August 17 and September 21 meetings as presented. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Chair Linnabary indicated that three Requests to Address the Board during Public Comments were submitted and the agenda would be called out of order to accommodate those requests. State Representative La Shawn K. Ford, Clifford Helm from the Chicago Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Julia Markham-Cameron from Dechert LLP all offered their comments regarding Senate Bill 828, which would restore the voting rights of incarcerated individuals. They urged the board to support the legislation regarding voting by mail in prisons.
Chair Linnabary asked for a motion to recess to executive session. Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider litigation and personnel matters. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. The meeting recessed at 11:30 a.m. and reconvened at 12:20 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
Member McCrory moved to adopt the executive session meeting minutes from the August 17 and September 21 meetings. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Member McCrory moved to approve the four year term appointment renewal for Matt Dietrich, Public Information Officer. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Chair Linnabary said the next item on the agenda was the discussion of a potential COVID Defense for campaign disclosure filing violations. Ms. Malowitz indicated that at its last meeting, the board voted to direct staff to prepare a proposed policy that would grant amnesty for COVID related defenses raised by committee chairmen and treasurers related to their affliction with COVID, or the affliction of immediate family members under their care with COVID, supported by appropriate medical documentation proving the diagnosis. The Board also asked the staff to research what laws or policies other states, the Federal Election Commission (FEC) and the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) may have enacted, or provided guidance related to COVID. She noted that the proposed rules were distributed to the board under separate cover and reviewed the research that was conducted while developing the rules. The EAC did not publish any guidance regarding handling of campaign disclosure cases in light of COVID and the FEC did not pass any legislative remedy or rule related to COVID defenses. Staff surveyed a number of states including Indiana, Michigan, Iowa, Washington, Oregon, Minnesota and Wisconsin, and no state indicated it had changed any laws, rules or regulations relating to late campaign disclosure filings as a result of COVID. Ms. Malowitz referred to Subsection (e-5) of the draft rules and reviewed the proposed language. Board discussion was had and it was the general consensus that the board had the authority to consider COVID related circumstances with regard to the settlement offer process, as historically done with other circumstances regarding serious illnesses and life events. No motions were made to take further action in the matter.
Ms. Malowitz presented an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 3.a.1) SBE v. DeWitt County Democratic Central Committee, 625, 20AS009 and concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to grant the appeal and order the committee to file the amended reports. Member Cadigan moved to grant the appeal and order the committee to file the amended reports. Member McCrory 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 3.a.7) SBE v. Citizens for Ryan R. Russ, 35069, 20MA040 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. She noted that the fine will abate after two years if the committee remains closed. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 3.a.9) SBE v. Friends to Elect Harry Benton, 35468, 20AS040 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. She noted that the fine was stayed as it was a first violation. Mr. Benton was present on behalf of the committee and explained that he was a first time candidate and that the error was inadvertent. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Agenda items 3.a.10) SBE v. Peritz for Illinois, 35518, 21NF048 and 3.a.11) SBE v. Friends of Martha Paschke, 35829, 20MA089 were continued to the November meeting.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 3.a.13) SBE v. Friends of D. Jason Svanda, 36055, 20AS056. She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal, and that the stay would be lifted on the previous penalty and $1,500 will be due and owing. Mr. Svanda was present on behalf of the committee and indicated it was his first time running for office and that he experienced severe health issues for quite some time. He asked that those circumstances be taken into consideration for the amount of the fines. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member McCrory 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 3.a.2-5, 8 & 14:
2) SBE v. Adams County Democratic Central Committee, 321, 20AS007;
3) SBE v. Rock Island County Republican Central Committee, 349, 20AJ002;
4) SBE v. Citizens for Brannigan, 31669, 20AS030;
5) SBE v. Friends of Karen Donnelly, 31706, 20AS032;
8) SBE v. Friends of Maureen Dunne, 35143, 20JQ147;
14) SBE v. Friends of Mary Ellen “Mari” Brown, 36151, 20AS067.
Member Cadigan moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Agenda item 3.a.6) SBE v. Friends of George D Alpogianis, 32787, 20DQ133 was continued to the November meeting.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 3.a.16) Cleary v. Township Improvement Party, Inc., 21CD051. She noted that the complainant withdrew the complaint and that the matter should be dismissed. Member Cadigan moved to accept the withdrawal and dismiss the complaint. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a listing of civil penalty assessments necessitating a final board order. Member Cadigan moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 304- 308 of the board packet. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments contained on pages 309-310 of the board packet and the 2021 random audit summary contained on pages 311-312 of the board packet was presented for informational purposes.
Next on the agenda were complaints following closed preliminary hearing. Agenda item 3.a.20) DeLaney v. Will County Republican Central Committee, 21CD047 was continued to the November meeting.
Ms. Malowitz presented the following complaints following closed preliminary hearing for agenda items 3.a.21-26:
21) Haley v. Cohen, 21CD052;
22) Haley v. Collier, 21CD053;
23) Haley v. Myers, 21CD054;
24) Haley v. Ochoa, 21CD055;
25) Haley v. Rodriguez, 21CD056;
26) Haley v. Wilke, 21CD057.
Ms. Malowitz recommended that since the complainant was not present, the board could dismiss the complaints for want of prosecution, or consider the complaints in executive session for further discussion. Andrew Finko was present on behalf of the respondents and agreed with the recommendation of the General Counsel. Member Cadigan moved to dismiss the above noted complaints for want of prosecution. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0.
Next on the agenda was the report of the Executive Director and Ms. Matthews indicated that all of the items on her report were informational in nature. She suggested to move to the legislative update and asked Angela Ryan, Legislative Director to proceed. Ms. Ryan informed the board that she was working with the Federal Voting Assistance Program (FVAP) to develop the 2022-2023 Voting Assistance Guide, which is published every two years. The Guide provides vote by mail voting information for military and overseas voters and the information for Illinois has been submitted and will be available on the FVAP website. Ms. Ryan reviewed her memo on pages 314-316 of the board packet and discussed the General Assembly’s Veto Session.
She noted that the SBE was not putting forth any substantive ideas for veto session; however, staff identified some potential issues in the interpretation of the Spring Session Omnibus Bill that was pointed out to the legislative caucuses. SBE staff did not suggest language for any amendments, but rather informed General Assembly staffers of potential conflicts with certain election dates and deadlines. The caucuses are reviewing the technical issues and intend to add them to the Veto Session Omnibus Bill, which will most likely become Senate Bill 536. The Board discussed the clean-up language for processing statewide advisory questions. Ms. Matthews explained that current statute provides that the SBE conduct a random sample of signatures and submit to the election authorities to conduct the signature verifications. For several years, it has been the intent that the language be changed to allow for the SBE to conduct the signature verification process to keep it consistent with the process for constitutional amendments. That language was approved with the legislative agenda for the past two years. Ms. Matthews noted that moving into veto session, the question was posed to the legislative sub-committee to reach out to the General Assembly to make them aware of this request as a statewide advisory question petition is currently being circulated and will most likely be filed with the SBE in spring 2022. Board discussion ensued and no action was taken on the matter.
With there being no further business before the board, Member Cadigan moved to adjourn until Tuesday, November 16, 2021. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 1:30 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?MID=BGqTEwpgS6M%3d&T=637745252943038149
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