Illinois State Board of Elections met Feb. 15.
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
Tonya L. Genovese, Member
Catherine S. McCrory, Member
William M. McGuffage, Member
Rick S. Terven, Sr., Member
ALSO PRESENT: Bernadette M. Matthews, Executive Director
Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel
Amy L. Calvin, Board Liaison
The meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom conference with all Members present.
Chair Linnabary opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance. He then declared that an in-person meeting was not practical or prudent pursuant to Section 7(e) of th Open Meetings Act because of a disaster: consistently high COVID hospitalization and death rates throughout Illinois. 5 ILCS 120/7(e).
The following staff members were presented with service awards from 2021: Monique Franklin, Jason Hinds and Linda Wentz for 15 years of service; and Gary Nerone, Kim Patrick and Kyle Thomas for 20 years of service.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the January 19 meeting as presented.
Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the following settlement offers for agenda items 4.a.1-2.
1) SBE v. Friends of Michelle Hagy, 34115, 21NF020. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the settlement offer. The committee filed a final report and the amount of the offer was the amount of the remaining funds in the committee’s possession. Member Cadigan moved to accept the settlement offer as presented, which was seconded by member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 7-1. Member Terven voted in the negative.
2) SBE v. Friends of Joseph Roudez III, 35112, 21DQ127. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the settlement offer as it did not comport with the Board’s settlement policy.
Member Cadigan moved to deny the settlement offer, which was seconded by member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal for agenda item 4.a.3)
SBE v. Washington County Democratic Central Committee, 327, 21MQ007. Member Donahue moved to grant the appeal, which was seconded by Member Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal for agenda item 4.a.7)
SBE v. Citizens to Elect Flynn Rush, 34079, 21MQ116. Scott Erdman was present on behalf of the committee and offered a settlement of 50% of the fine. It was noted that the committee had a negative funds balance of approximately $31,978 and that a settlement offer could not be entertained based on a negative funds balance. Mr. Erdman said that he was recently retained and advised the committee to contact agency staff to clear up the reporting issues. After discussion regarding the negative balance and reporting issues, Member Cadigan moved to place the matter on the March 29 meeting agenda for consideration. Member Donahue 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 deny the appeals for agenda items 4.a.4, 5, 8, 10 & 11:
4) SBE v. Warren County Republican Central Committee, 324, 21MA006;
5) SBE v. Jake Rendleman for JALC Trustee, 29599, 21MA007;
8) SBE v. Friends for Paras, 35524, 21MQ157;
10) SBE v. Friends to Elect Ron Ford, 35981, 21MQ176;
11) SBE v. Mix for Mayor, 36631, 21MQ205.
Member Cadigan moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she did not concur with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal for agenda item 4.a.6) SBE v. Friends of Jason Kasiar, 31841, 21MQ098. She said the electronic filing defense was not invoked by the committee, however, even if it had been, that defense was not needed if the report was successfully filed. In addition, the committee provided a screenshot of a notification from IDIS that showed the report was successfully filed on April 1, 2021. Ms. Malowitz thenrecommended that the appeal be granted. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel and grant the appeal. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal for agenda item 4.a.9)
SBE v. Citizens in Support of Glenview School District 34 Referendum, 35925, 20SQ119. The board twice remanded the matter to the hearing officer. First, for submission of additional evidence from the parties, and second, to subpoena former Treasurer Kyla Hummel for deposition regarding the authenticity and an original copy of the filing receipt. Ms. Malowitz indicated that Ms. Hummel did not appear for the deposition and has stopped responding to further communications. Ms. Malowitz recommended that the appeal by denied and that the matter be referred to the State’s Attorney for the potentially altered filing receipt. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel to deny the appeal and refer the matter to the State’s Attorney office. Member McCrory 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.
Member Donahue moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 76- 83 of the board packet. Member Cadigan seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider complaints following closed preliminary hearing. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 11:25 a.m. and reconvened at 11:35 a.m. with the same attendance noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 4.a.14) Humphries v. Tony Colatorti for McHenry County Sheriff, 21CD063,
Member Cadigan moved to find that the complaint was not filed on justifiable grounds and that the complaint be dismissed based on the merits. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
The next item on the agenda was consideration of proposed amended rules for Part 100, Campaign Financing and Part 125, Practice and Procedure. Ms. Malowitz said that previous revisions from staff and the board since the last meeting were incorporated into the version presented on pages 85-120 of the board packet. She indicated that board approval was needed today for the first filing with JCAR. Chair Linnabary opened up the floor for comments and the board gave their individual modifications to the proposed rules. After discussion, Member Terven moved to adopt the proposed amended rules for Part’s 100 and 125 incorporating the board revisions discussed today, and direct staff to file those amended rules with JCAR. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews began her report with an emergency voting system modification request for the Dominion Democracy Suite 5.6-D-KNOWiNK Poll Pad included on pages 121-122 of the board packet. She said that Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting and Registration Systems is seeking approval to begin the process of review and testing of the KNOWiNK Poll Pad’s interaction with the Democracy Suite vote tabulation system. The emergency request is necessary due to the passing of the six month deadline for submission of a completed application for use of a system in the June 28, 2022 General Primary Election, pursuant to administrative rules. Ms. Matthews explained that if the request is approved, staff would return to the board with a request for approval of the system only for the upcoming primary election. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the KNOWiNK emergency approval request as set forth in the board packet. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews presented the established party candidate petition filing plan prepared by Brent Davis, Director of Election Operations, which was included on pages 123-124 of the board packet. The memo outlined details regarding the first day of filing on March 7, 2022, general staffing levels and COVID precautions, an overview of the procedures for petition processing and copy requests, and a legislative walkthrough of the whole process. Mr. Davis added that the filers are being asked to limit the number of individuals per petition to reduce the number of people in the board room for health and safety precautions.
Angela Ryan, Director of Legislation began her report with a listing of elections related legislation contained on pages 125-133 of the board packet. She indicated that the dates were set for the House and Senate budget hearings and that an omnibus elections bill could be a possibility but was not certain at this time.
Ms. Matthews presented the Electronic Information Registration Center (ERIC) program overview and indicated it was included in the packet to provide the board with a historical summary and outline of the components of the program. The memo also covered and overview of the membership provisions, governance and funding, responsibilities as a member of ERIC, and data privacy and security concerns within the program. Ms. Matthews explained that the ERIC program is the only interstate data sharing agreement available to chief elections officials at this time and membership was required due to a legislative mandate. She noted that Mr. Thomas manages the program from the voter registration side of it and was available to answer any questions. Discussion was had regarding routine audits and neighboring state participation in the ERIC program.
Ms. Matthews presented the IVRS project update and said a memo from Dustin Schultz was included on pages 134-135 of the board packet. She indicated that staff discussions continue with Gartner, Inc. and they have indicated an agreement would be finalized in the near future. Mr. Schultz added that staff is contemplating a presentation of findings and executive summary after Phase One, so the Board and the staff can consider the research that has been delivered. He explained that Phase One includes project initiation, current state assessment, state data collection and market scan and feasibility studies.
The voter registration activity report, fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of February and March were presented for informational purposes. Ms. Matthews noted that all items in the board packet, as well as memos referenced during open meetings are available for public inspection on the agenda section of the agency website.
Ms. Matthews informed the Board that it would be necessary to schedule a special meeting in April, prior to the regularly scheduled April 21 meeting to call the cases for objections to special judicial candidates. She said that any objections from the established party filing period that are ripe for disposition could also be considered at the special meeting. The Board discussed a few dates and agreed upon Thursday, April 14, 2022.
Chair Linnabary indicated that Gary Finley and Ryan O’Donnell requested to speak under the public comments section of the meeting. Mr. Finley was not present and did not respond when called. Mr. O’Donnell discussed the agency website, use of RSS feeds for the election news and requested the website allow the public to subscribe to the election calendar for updates. Vice Chair Watson moved to recess to executive session to consider litigation and the appointment and employment of certain staff pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) and 2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8- 0. The meeting recessed at 1:15 p.m. and reconvened at 2:05 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
Member Donahue moved to appoint Jeremy Kirk to the position of Assistant Executive Director for a four year contract and direct Chair Linnabary, Vice Chair Watson, Ms. Matthews and Ms. Malowitz to work with Mr. Kirk on the terms of the contract. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
With there being no further business before the Board, Vice Chair Watson moved to adjourn until Tuesday, March 29, 2022. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
The meeting ended at 2:10 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/Agenda.aspx?MID=%2buymEtd8mlc%3d&T=637836470039534893
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