Illinois State Board of Elections met Aug. 15.
Here are the minutes provided by the board:
PRESENT: Casandra B. Watson, Chair
Laura K. Donahue, Vice Chair
Jennifer M. Ballard Croft, Member
Cristina D. Cray, Member
Tonya L. Genovese, Member
Catherine S. McCrory, Member
Rick S. Terven, Sr., Member
Jack Vrett, 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 10:40 a.m. via videoconference with all Members present. Chair Watson and Members Ballard Croft, McCrory and Vrett were present in the Chicago office and Vice Chair Donahue and Members Cray, Genovese and Terven were present in the Springfield office.
Vice Chair Watson opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.
Vice Chair Donahue moved to approve the minutes from the June 21 and July 3 meetings, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed a settlement offer for agenda item 2.a.1) SBE v. Elect Corinne Pierog, 22450, 22AS017. Under Rule 125.450(d)(3)-(4), factors to consider in determining the amount of an appropriate settlement include whether the committee has a current balance sufficient to pay the fine, as well as the committee’s funds ratio. Ms. Malowitz explained that the committee’s average balance is $29,434.75 with a balance ratio of only 15.29% and recommended denial of the offer. Vice Chair Donahue moved to adopt the recommendation of the General Counsel and deny the appeal. Member Cray seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-1. Member Terven voted in the negative.
Ms. Malowitz presented an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 2.a.2) SBE v. Rabine for Governor, 36681, 22AS046 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal in part and deny the appeal in part. Member McCrory moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel, which was seconded by Vice Chair Donahue and 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 2.a.3-10.
6) SBE v. Committee to Elect David Paul Blumenshine, 34451, 22DQ223. Ms. Malowitz recommended denying the appeal for lack of an adequate basis, adding that the committee filed a final report, and if the committee remains closed for two years following the final order without forming a successor committee, the fine will be abated. Mr. Blumenshine was present on behalf of the committee and indicated he did not intend to run for office in the future. Member McCrory moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
10) SBE v. Community for Ruth Gudino, 37013, 22DQ275. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the appeal because the committee did not demonstrate that they qualified for the electronic filing defense as required by Rule. She added that if the committee remains closed for two years following the final order without forming a successor committee, the fine will be abated. Natasha Smith Walker, Chair of the committee, was present and offered her comments. She said she experienced technical issues with the IDIS system and contacted Director Tom Newman on several occasions, including the day of the filing. After Board discussion regarding the documentation, Member Terven moved to remand the matter to the hearing officer for further investigation regarding proof of contact with agency staff within three days of the filing deadline. Member Genovese seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Member Ballard Croft recused herself from the matter.
7) SBE v. Racial Justice PAC, 35093, 22DQ-CL001. Ms. Malowitz explained that the appeal involved contributions in excess of statutory limitations. She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal and supplemented the recommendation with the following facts. On February 6, 2023, the Board mailed the committee, via certified mail, a notice indicating the committee accepted contributions in excess of statutory limitations in the amount of $94,000, and advising the committee that under Section 9-8.5(j), if the excess contribution is not disposed of within thirty days, the excess contribution will escheat to the General Revenue Fund. On March 8, 2023, the committee received the certified mail notice of excess contributions and to date, the committee has not returned the overage to the contributor or otherwise disposed of the $94,000 excess contribution. DeAngelo Bester, Chair of the committee, was present and offered his comments. He apologized for the error and asked for leniency. Board discussion ensued regarding escheatment laws and the committee’s negative fund balance. Member McCrory suggested that the committee update its filings to correct the negative balance issue. Member Ballard Croft moved to continue the matter. Member McCrory 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 2.a.3-5, 8 & 9:
3) SBE v. IUOE Local 399 Political Education Fund, 1157, 22AS010;
4) SBE v. Friends for Arne Waltmire, 25006, 22DQ200;
5) SBE v. Bennett for Senate, 28427, 22AS027;
8) SBE v. Friends of Grace Simpson, 36264, 22DQ255; and
9) SBE v. Harlem Federations of Teachers Local #540 PAC/COPE, 36532, 22DQ260.
Member McCrory moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 2.a.11) SBE v. Citizens to Elect Byron Stanley, 35376, 23CD017 and summarized the matter. She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to find the complaint alleging violations of Election Code Section 9-11 has been proven, that the Board issue an order requiring the committee to amend all its quarterly reports that show a negative funds balance and failure to do so within thirty days of the order shall result in a fine of up to $5,000. In addition, the order will contain a one year ‘standing order’ provision requiring the committee to timely submit all Article 9 filings or face civil penalties of up to $5,000. Member McCrory moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel, which was seconded by Member Genovese and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Ms. Malowitz presented a listing of civil penalty assessments necessitating a final board order for agenda item 2.a.12. Member McCrory moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 73-76 of the board packet. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
The next item on the agenda was a memo from Tom Newman, Director of Campaign Disclosure outlining an informal policy regarding A-1 violations, that has been in effect for roughly twenty years. Board discussion ensued regarding the policy and preliminary review of rulemaking by executive staff and the legislative subcommittee. Vice Chair Donahue moved to send the matter to the legislative subcommittee for review, as well as the Executive Director, Assistant Executive Director and Board leadership. Vice Chair Donahue then amended her motion to include review by the Senior Policy Advisor. Member Ballard Croft seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments contained on pages 78-79 of the board packet was presented for informational purposes.
Ms. Malowitz presented complaints following closed preliminary hearing and informed the Board that she did not have meeting appearances for agenda items 2.a.17) Abbott v. Citizens for Jennifer Anteliz, 23CD035 or 2.a.18) Prichard v. Friends of Steven Rosenblum, 23CD040 and that those matters could be dismissed for want of prosecution. Attorney Ed Mullen stated that for item 2.a.18, Matthew Flamm, counsel for the respondent requested he appear on his behalf if Jon
Lydon, counsel for the complainant planned to appear today. Mr. Mullen spoke to Mr. Lydon and he indicated he would not appear and that he is not challenging the recommendation to dismiss the complaint. Vice Chair Donahue moved to dismiss the above noted complaints for want of prosecution, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Member Vrett recused himself from both matters.
Member McCrory 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). Vice Chair Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 11:50 a.m. and reconvened at 1:15 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.
As to agenda item 2.a.15) Consolino v. Neitzke-Troike, 23CD023, Member Ballard Croft moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel to find that the complaint was not filed on justifiable grounds and the matter be dismissed. Vice Chair Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
As to agenda item 2.a.16) Lundeen v. Naperville Forward, 23CD027, Member Ballard Croft moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer to find that the complaint was filed on justifiable grounds and the matter proceed to a public hearing. Vice Chair Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.
Next on the agenda was a litigation summary for agenda item 2.b) Illinois Conservative Union v. State of Illinois and Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) v. Matthews which was included on pages 80-88 of the board packet. Ms. Malowitz informed the Board that these matters have been recently discussed in the news and then provided a review for the benefit of the Board Members.
She stated that Section 1A-25 of the Election Code restricts dissemination of voter lists to political committees and governmental entities. However, two organizations, Public Interest Legal Foundation (PILF) and the Illinois Conservative Union filed separate lawsuits against Board defendants arguing that the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA) Public Access Provision requires access to voter list maintenance materials, which includes the list themselves, and that the NVRA preempts state law on this issue. In the PILF matter, the court entered a preliminary injunction enjoining enforcement of section 1A-25 and its prohibitions on public access to voter lists on the grounds that federal law conflicts with state law, therefore, federal law preempts the state statute. The Board did not appeal the PILF ruling and consented to a permanent injunction in exchange for PILF's agreement not to seek fees from the Board defendants. As a result of the ruling, the Board now has one version of its voter list that it gives to political committees and then a more redacted list that it gives to the public in response to requests for production under the NVRA. In the IL Conservative Union matter, a settlement was reached allowing them access to the same voter lists that political committees receive, however, subject to a confidentiality order which restricts their ability to disseminate the voter list, punishable by contempt of court. Ms. Malowitz explained that no one has access to voter social security numbers, driver's license numbers and dates of birth, and that all of that information is withheld.
Ms. Matthews began her report with an update on agency operational and functional activities currently in progress. Staff have been busy conducting voting machine testing, updating various publications for the upcoming election cycle, preparing for candidate petition filing, finalizing FY23 budgetary matters and assisting with the two year external audit. Ms. Matthews gave a brief update on the ongoing policy manual review and said that the deliverables were received from Laner Muchin, who is on contract to review the manual. That work product was forwarded to Stephon Bishop, Director of Administrative Services for his initial review as well as further review with policy manual subcommittee Members Ballard Croft and McCrory. Ms. Matthews indicated the goal is to complete the review with the next few months and present the manual to the Board by the end of the calendar year.
Ms. Matthews presented the IVRS rewrite update included on pages 89-90 of the board packet and reviewed the report. At this point, the project is in the final RFP Development Phase and staff are finalizing the review of the thirteen documents that comprise the RFP package. Once completed, the RFP package will be provided to the State Purchasing Officer for review prior to posting to the state BidBuy website. At the conclusion of the posting period, staff will host two vendor conferences for prospective vendors to pitch their proposed solutions along with their written materials. After a vendor is selected, staff plan to enter into a five year contract with up to five one year renewal options. Ms. Matthews noted that the IVRS is a complex system and anticipates that its replacement will be a multi-year agency project.
The Voter registration activity report, grant funding update, FY23 fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of August & September were presented for informational purposes.
Member Terven moved to recess to executive session to discuss pending litigation pursuant to Sections 2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(11). Vice Chair Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 1:35 p.m. and reconvened at 1:42 p.m. with the same attendance at noted in the initial roll.
With there being no further business before the Board, Vice Chair Donahue moved to adjourn until Tuesday, September 19, 2023. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 1:43 p.m.
https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard.aspx?MID=cmHrvo7CZrE%3d
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