Illinois State Board of Elections met April 18.
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
Rick S. Terven, Sr., Member
ABSENT: William M. McGuffage, 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 seven Members present. Chair Linnabary and Members Cadigan, Donahue and McCrory were present in the Chicago office, Members Genovese and Terven were present in the Springfield office and Vice Chair Watson was present via Zoom. Member McGuffage was absent and Member Terven held his proxy.
Chair Linnabary opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.
Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the March 21 meeting as presented. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz informed the Board that the new Campaign Disclosure Rules became effective on March 27 and they were published in the Illinois Register on April 14. Specifically, Section 26 Illinois Administrative Code 125.425(i) was amended, which sets a new standard for appeals. It says the standard of review for an appeal is whether the committee has demonstrated, by a preponderance of the evidence, that the assessment was in error. Error may be shown by proving the committee did not violate Article 9, the Board's assessment was incorrect, an affirmative defense is applicable or other meritorious basis exists to grant the appeal.
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 2.a.1-4.
4) SBE v. Friends of Mark Hamberlin, 38583, 22SQ180. Mr. Hamberlin was present on behalf of the committee and indicated that the campaign disclosure calendar was not included in the filing notice. Ms. Malowitz noted that the fine would be stayed because it was a first violation. Member Cadigan moved to deny the appeal and stay the fine, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
1) SBE v. Friends of Susan Smentek, 36294, 22SQ114;
2) SBE v. Committee to Elect Chris Taliaferro, 37127, 22AJ078; and 3) SBE v. Citizens for Hannah M. Clark, 37484, 22SQ170. Member Cadigan moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments was presented for informational purposes.
Ms. Malowitz presented complaints following closed hearing and noted that no parties were present for agenda item 2.a.7) Bartishell v. Noonan for 19, 23CD007 so the matter could be dismissed. Member McCrory moved to dismiss the complaint for want of prosecution, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
As to agenda item 2.a.8) Griffin v. Hazel Crest Reimagined Team, 23CD021, Ms. Malowitz informed the Board that the complainant withdrew the complaint.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider complaints following closed preliminary hearing pursuant to Section 9-21 of the Election Code, 10 ILCS 5/9-21, and Section 2(c)(4) of the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(4). Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 10:42 a.m. and reconvened at 10:55 a.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 2.a.6) Greenberg v. Friends of Tony Ciaravino, 23CD005, Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer as supplemented by the General Counsel that insufficient grounds to conduct an audit for cause were made part of the record. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Next on the agenda was consideration of a HAVA Complaint, 2023HAVA1 and it was noted that two appearances were filed regarding the matter. Ms. Malowitz reviewed the matter and the applicable Board Rule regarding complaints filed under the Help America Vote Act. She recommended that the Board dismiss the complaint because it did not state a claim for relief under Title III of HAVA and refer the alleged violation of state law back to the election authority, which is the Office of the Rock Island County Clerk. The complainant, Laura Williams was present and offered her remarks on how rejection of vote by mail ballots are handled in Rock Island County. Patricia Castro, Rock Island Assistant State’s Attorney was present and concurred with the General Counsel’s recommendation. Ms. Castro added that with respect to the state law allegations, her understanding is that the vote by mail ballots were postmarked after the date of the election, which is the reason they were rejected. She indicated that conflict counsel serves in the office and could investigate the matter if the Board desired. After discussion, Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the General Counsel and find that a violation of HAVA did not occur and refer the allegations of state law violations to the Rock Island State's Attorney's Office and the Rock Island County Clerk for further investigation and fact finding. Member Donahue seconded the motion. After further discussion, Member Cadigan revised his motion to add referral to the Attorney General’s Office as well. The amended motion was seconded by Member Terven and passed by roll called of 8-0.
Ms. Matthews began her report with updates related to the April 4, 2023 Consolidated Election. She explained that staff is seeking Board authorization to certify the results of the Fox Waterway Agency and Fox Water Reclamation District after they are received on April 25 from the affected election authorities. Member Cadigan moved to grant authorization to staff to certify those results, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
A post-election report was included on page 35 of the board packet and Ms. Matthews reviewed the memo. She said both offices were staffed from 6:00 a.m. to 9:00 p.m. to provide support for election officials and members of the public. Staff received typical inquires regarding campaign free zones, election day voter registration, polling place locations and pollwatcher rights and limitations.
Ms. Matthews presented the late precinct reporting update contained on page 36 of the board packet and said two jurisdictions, Fulton County and the City of Chicago, did not report all precincts by 2:00 a.m.
Next on the agenda was the voting system pre-election testing report, which was included on pages 37-41 of the board packet. Voting and Registration Systems division staff conducted tests of voting tabulation systems in the City of Galesburg and the Counties of Henderson, Iroquois, Vermilion and Grundy. All tests were successful with no major tabulation errors. Ms. Matthews added that in Grundy County, staff checked to ensure that previous SBE issued recommendations related to the voting system that is in use were being implemented.
Ms. Matthews reported on legislative activity and said the General Assembly was on a two week spring break and now currently back in session. The agency Senate Appropriation budget hearing is scheduled for April 19 and Ms. Matthews and Mr. Bolinger will be in attendance to provide testimony and respond to questions. A subject matter hearing regarding ranked choice voting is scheduled for April 19 and staff will be in attendance along with several election authority representatives. She noted that several voter registration bills are also circulating and staff have been asked to determine if there will be any impact on the agency with any of those bills. For each of the bills it's mainly been determined that their passage would have very minimal impact on the agency from a cost analysis perspective.
Ms. Matthews presented an update on the IVRS rewrite project and said a memo from Dustin Schultz was included on pages 50-51 of the board packet. The project has entered the final phase of the project with Gartner, which is development of the RFP. Weekly meetings will continue with Gartner until the RFP is delivered and the goal is to release that RFP close to June 1. Mr. Kirk added that after the RFP is released, it will take approximately three to four months to finish the procurement process.
The next item on the agenda was consideration of the proposed FY24 Board Meeting schedule, which was contained on page 52 of the board packet. Ms. Matthews noted that should legislation change any of the meeting dates, a revised schedule will be presented for Board consideration. Member McCrory moved to approve the FY24 Board Meeting schedule as presented, which was seconded by Member Donahue and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
The voter registration activity report, grant funding update, FY23 fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of April & May were presented for informational purposes.
Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session executive session to discuss the appointment, employment, compensation, performance, or dismissal of specific employees and pending litigation pursuant to Sections 2(c)(1) and 2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1), 2(c)(11). Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-
0. The meeting recessed at 11:30 a.m. and reconvened at 11:48 a.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
Member Donahue moved to approve the executive session minutes from the March 21 meeting, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
With there being no further business before the Board, Member Donahue moved to adjourn until Tuesday, May 16, 2023. Member Cadigan seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 11:49 a.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/AgendaAll.aspx
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