Illinois State Board of Elections met Aug. 26.
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
Jeremy Kirk, Assistant Executive Director
Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel
Amy L. Calvin, Board Liaison
The meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. via videoconference with all Members present. Chair Linnabary and Members Cadigan, McCrory and McGuffage were present in the Chicago office, Members Donahue, Genovese and Terven were present in the Springfield office and Vice Chair Watson was present via Zoom.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the July 29 meeting as presented. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Member Cadigan moved to recess the State Board of Elections and reconvene as the State Officers Electoral Board. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 10:31 a.m. and reconvened at 12:00 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial Board roll call.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the following settlement offers for agenda items 4.a.1-4.
4) SBE v. Michael Hoffmann for Mayor, 36812, 21JQ256. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the settlement offer as the committee qualified as low dollar and has closed with a zero balance. Michael Hoffman and Bob Siebert were present on behalf of the committee and discussed issues with the speed of mail service, with Mr. Siebert explaining that he intended to comply with all requirements. Member Cadigan moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member McGuffage and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
1) SBE v. Massac County Republican Central Committee, 1030, 21NF050. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the settlement offer because it did not comport with the settlement guidelines for low dollar committees. Member Cadigan moved to deny the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member McGuffage and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
2) SBE v. Citizens for Association of Subcontractors & Affiliates of Chicago PAC, 88369, 21MA003. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the settlement offer as the committee met the settlement guidelines. Member Terven moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member McGuffage and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
3) SBE v. Friends to Elect Jennifer Maddox, 35047, 20JQ144. Ms. Malowitz informed the Board the committee’s fines were abated and the settlement offer is moot.
Ms. Malowitz presented appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeals for agenda items 4.a.5-6:
5) SBE v. Friends of Molly for State’s Attorney, 31941, 21JQ098;
6) SBE v. Friends of Mary Gibson, 36783, 21SQ228.
Member Cadigan moved to grant the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member McGuffage and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeals and order the committee to amend its reports for agenda items 4.a.7-8:
7) SBE v. Team Demmer, 23813, 21AD021;
8) SBE v. Friends of Curtis Tarver II, 34112, 21AJ017.
She also noted that the committee for item #7 amended its report. John Fogarty was present on behalf of the committee for item #7 and concurred with the recommendation. Member Cadigan moved to grant the above noted appeals and order the committee for agenda item 4.a.8 to amend its reports. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeals for agenda items 4.a.9, 10 and 12-23:
9) SBE v. Jersey County Democratic Central Committee, 354, 22DQ004;
10) SBE v. Citizens for Franks Coconate, 13678, 21JQ026;
12) SBE v. Friends of Jimmie Watson, 21738, 21SQ043;
13) SBE v. Friends of John Idleburg, 32075, 21AJ014;
14) SBE v. People for Rossana, 21AJ018, 34611;
15) SBE v. Friends for Heather Boyle, 35783, 21MA044;
16) SBE v. Orland Township Together, 36172, 21AJ023;
17) SBE v. Friends of Grace Simpson, 36264, 22DQ119;
18) SBE v. Darlene Cannon for 2nd Ward, 36279, 21SQ181;
19) SBE v. Gartner for Change, 36314, 21JQ209/21AS049;
20) SBE v. Clavio 4 Frankfort, 36551, 21AM083;
21) SBE v. Concerned Residents for SD 132 PAC, 36577, 21SQ212;
22) SBE v. Friends to Elect Marlon Haywood, 36620, 21NF065;
23) SBE v. Peter Schwartzman for Mayor, 36710, 22DQ139.
Member Terven moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Agenda item 4.a.11) SBE v. Friends of Paul O’Grady, 21557, 21AJ009 will be placed on the September meeting agenda at the request of the committee.
Ms. Malowitz presented a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 4.a.24) Thomas v. Township Improvement Party, 21CD049 and noted that the complainant was not present. Chair Linnabary asked if the matter could be dismissed for want of prosecution, and Ms. Malowitz said it could. Member Cadigan moved to dismiss the complaint for want of prosecution, which was seconded by Vice Chair Watson and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a listing of civil penalty assessments necessitating a final board order and noted for the record that five committees paid their fines and should be removed from the list. Member Cadigan moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 188- 189 of the board packet, with the exception of the committees that were removed from the listing. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
The ballot forfeiture listing and payment of civil penalty assessments were presented for informational purposes. Chair Linnabary asked that a final ballot forfeiture list be distributed to the Board. A discussion ensued about whether it is possible to remove from the list committee with candidates who have not run for office in years.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider complaints following closed preliminary hearing. See 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(4). Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 12:35 p.m. and reconvened at 1:00 p.m. with the same Board attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 4.a.28) SBE v. Citizens to Elect Andre Thapedi, 22CD006, Member Cadigan moved to place the matter on the October meeting agenda. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
As to agenda item 4.a.29) Hubert v. Committee to Elect Natalie Toro, 22CD011, Member Cadigan moved to accept the settlement agreement, including the language from Rule 125.420. Vice Chair Watson seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews began her report with the certification of the November 8, 2022 General Election ballot and asked the Board for a motion. Member Cadigan moved to certify the ballot for the November 8, 2022 General Election as presented by staff and to authorize staff to issue amended certifications as appropriate in the event of rulings in matters related to electoral boards and/or judicial reviews or other litigation in the courts, removal of candidates on the ballot forfeiture list in the event that their fines are not paid by the end of today's business hours, and candidate withdrawals subject to confirmation that all of the affected election authorities could implement such withdrawals without incurring burdensome reprinting. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews presented a voting system modification request for Hart InterCivic Verity 2.6 Engineering Change Order (ECO) which was included on pages 190-191 of the board packet. She noted that the application was received after the six month deadline established by administrative rules; however, due to the de minimis nature of the changes and the need for replacement of end of life components, staff requested that these changes take effect immediately and be available for the General Election. Member Cadigan moved to grant a two year interim approval for the Hart InterCivic Verity 2.6 voting system and the three engineering change orders. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Next on the agenda was the presentation of the KNOWiNK Poll Pad testing report and results, which was contained on pages 192-199 of the board packet. Ms. Matthews said that based on the results of the report, staff are requesting approval of the KNOWiNK PollPad for use with the Democracy Suite 5.6-D voting system for the remainder of the system's two year interim approval. She also noted that the Democracy Suite 5.6-D system previously received a two year interim
Board approval on November 16, 2021. Ms. Matthews explained that previously, if a poll pad was approved for use with a system, even if the use of that poll pad did not change the main components of the system, an interim approval for the system as a whole was applied and extended. Now if there is not a change to the system itself, staff will only seek approval for the use of the poll pad with that system without extending the approval of the system as a whole. Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting and Registration Systems indicated that the Election Assistance Commission (EAC) does not test or approve e-pollbooks. He indicated that the EAC is looking into a pilot testing program but nothing has been put into place at this time. Member Terven moved to approve the use of the KNOWiNK PollPad in connection with the Dominion Voting
Systems Democracy Suite 5.6-D. Member Cadigan seconded the motion, which passed by roll
Next on the agenda was the legislative update and Angela Ryan, Legislative Liaison, presented her report which was included on page 200 of the board packet. She discussed P.A. 101-0652, named the No Population Without Representation Act and said it had a 2025 effective date. Ms. Ryan reported that she along with other executive staff hosted an informal orientation for senate staffers and topics covered included functions of the Board, an overview of campaign disclosure, agency publications and voter registration and systems testing. Ms. Ryan also briefed the board on the Internet Voters Guide, post-election survey and Election Assistance Voting Survey.
Ms. Matthews reported on the Accessible Vote by Mail program and indicated that staff is working with Democracy Live as the selected vendor to provide appropriate guidance to the election authorities and to assist with training. Staff continue to remind the election authorities of the requirement to provide accessible vote by mail ballots and work with them and the vendor to implement the process. Ms. Matthews said monthly updates will be provided to the Board up to and post General Election.
Ms. Matthews presented a report on the FY23 grants, which was included on pages 201-203 of the board packet. Staff have developed an electronic method for the election authorities to submit their grant paperwork through the Illinois Voter Registration System (IVRS) website. Ms. Matthews discussed the FY23 grant offerings, which include $2 million in funding for polling place accessibility improvements and $10 million for costs associated with voter registration.
Next was an update on the IVRS rewrite project and Ms. Matthews reported that approval was received from DoIT to finalize the procurement of Gartner for research and technical documentation for the replacement of IVRS. A thorough review of IVRS functionality and its key points will be completed and market research will be conducted into replacement systems. The project is expected to take approximately six months and cost will be approximately $425,000.
The voter registration activity report for the month of July was presented for informational purposes.
Ms. Matthews presented the next item on her report, which was Board discussion regarding a Policy Manual review by a consultant or possible consultants. She indicated that this item was included on the agenda for Board discussion at the request of Board leadership (Chair and Vice Chair) because several other members of the Board expressed a desire to have the Policy Manual be reviewed by an outside consultant. Several leadership meetings were conducted and, while leadership and executive staff arrived at the general consensus that a review by a legal firm attorney(s) and human resources consultant was preferred, leadership has been unable to agree on a particular consultant or consultants. Executive staff solicited consultant options from members and those were circulated to the Board along with possible ways to procure the consultants, whether those would be chosen by leadership, the Board members or executive staff.
Chair Linnabary presented options to select a consultant or consultants, which included members selecting consultants as caucuses, selecting at least two consultants to review the manual both legally and from a human resources perspective, or agree as a whole on one consultant or firm to conduct the review. Discussion was had by the Board regarding the vacant Director of Human Resources position, preferences for the method of the policy manual review, and the possible options and available law firms with expertise in employment law and human resource policies. It was agreed that leadership would review and approve the final position description for the vacant Director of Administrative Services position prior to its posting. It was further agreed that leadership would choose one consultant from the list previously circulated to the Board to review the Policy Manual.
The fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of August and September were presented for informational purposes.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation, which was seconded by Member McGuffage and passed by roll call vote of 8-0. See 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11). The meeting recessed at 2:15 p.m. and reconvened at 2:33 p.m. with the same Board attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the executive session minutes from the July 22 and 29 meetings with the revisions as noted in executive session. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
With there being no further business before the Board, Member McGuffage moved to adjourn until Tuesday, September 20, 2022. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 2:35 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?MID=8HKWm16HSC8%3d&T=638005652135473946
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