Prairie State Wire

Illinois State Board of Elections met Sept. 17.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

PRESENT: Casandra B. Watson, 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

ABSENT: Laura K. Donahue, Vice Chair

ALSO PRESENT: Bernadette M. Matthews, Executive Director Jeremy Kirk, Assistant Executive Director

Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel

Amy L. Calvin, Executive Administrative Assistant

The meeting convened at 10:00 a.m. via videoconference with seven Members present. Members Cray, Genovese and Terven were present in the Springfield office, Members Ballard Croft, McCrory and Vrett were present in the Chicago office and Chair Watson was present via Zoom. Vice Chair Donahue was absent and Member McCrory held her proxy.

Chair Watson opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance.

Member Terven moved to approve the minutes of the August 23 meeting as presented. Member Vrett seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Member Vrett moved to recess the State Board of Elections and reconvene as the State Officers Electoral Board to approve the minutes of the August 23 meeting. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. Member Cray moved to approve the minutes of the August 23 State Officers Electoral Board meeting as presented. Member Vrett seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. Member Terven moved to adjourn the State Officers Electoral Board and reconvene as the State Board of Elections, which was seconded by Member Cray and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the following settlement offers for agenda items 5.a.1-5.

1) SBE v. Warren County Republican Central Committee, 324, 23DQ006. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the offer as it comports with the settlement guidelines. Brenda Morrison was present on behalf of the committee and agreed with the recommendation. Member McCrory moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Cray and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

5) SBE v. Committee to Elect Nicole Bennett, 38838, 23AJ044. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the offer as it comports with the settlement guidelines as a low dollar committee. Member Terven moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

2) SBE v. Friends of Wayne Domke, 32368, 23AM028; and

4) SBE v. Friends of Jim Jorgensen, 36674, 23NF051. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the offers as they were below the 50% threshold and did not comport with the settlement offer guidelines. Member McCrory moved to reject the above noted settlement offers, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

3) SBE v. Friends of Gina Meeks, 36372, 23NF174. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the settlement offer as it comports with the settlement guidelines. It was noted that additional fines would be assessed in the future and were not included with this offer. Member Terven moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Genovese and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeals for agenda items 5.a.6-9.

7) SBE v. Illinois Pharmacists PAC, 12604, 23AD011;

8) SBE v. Vernon Township Republicans, 19724, 23AS015; and

9) SBE v. Citizens for Tom Klein, 20531, 23AD015. Member Cray moved to grant the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Member Ballard Croft and passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Member Vrett abstained from the vote.

6) SBE v. Whiteside County Republican Central Committee, 115, 23AD002. Ms. Malowitz added that she agreed that the appeal should be granted under the Board’s rules but not for the reasons stated in the report. She explained that the committee is required to file their reports electronically and not by mail, e-mail or facsimile transmission. However, the Board’s file on this committee does not contain correspondence from staff notifying the committee it must file electronically. She further recommended that if the Board grants the appeal, staff should send a notice to the committee that electronic filing is mandatory going forward. Member Genovese moved to grant the appeal as modified by the General Counsel. Member Cray 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 grant the appeal in part and deny the appeal in part for agenda item 5.a.10.

10) SBE v. Friends of Jessie Fuentes, 38831, 23AD00. Member Vrett moved to grant the appeal in part and deny the appeal in part, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the following appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeals for agenda items 5.a.11-19 & 21-25. She recommended the appeal be granted for agenda item 5.a.20.

11) SBE v. Friends of Mark Stephens, 7465, 23AS009. Ms. Malowitz added that the report of the hearing officer should be amended to indicate the contributions were first disclosed in the September 2023 quarterly report, not the December 2023 quarterly report. John Fogarty was present on behalf of the committee and indicated they would present a settlement offer at the next board meeting. Member Vrett moved to deny the appeal and adopt the modified recommendation of the General Counsel. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

12) SBE v. Friends of Walter Burnett, Jr., 10591, 23AM010. Mike Kasper was present on behalf of the committee and agreed with the recommendation. Member Cray moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

18) SBE v. JudgeJohnAnderson.com, 37075, 23AJ037. Ms. Malowitz further recommended denial of the $4,000 settlement offer as it did not comport with the settlement guidelines. Mike Kasper was present on behalf of the committee and offered a revised settlement of $5,750, which represented 50% of the total fines owed. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal and accept the revised settlement offer to be paid by December 31. Member Ballard Croft seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

20) SBE v. Citizens for Terrence Stuber, 37541, 23JQ183. Ms. Malowitz indicated that it was her understanding that the settlement offer that was approved at the June 2023 meeting intended to include the $1,190 fine, plus an additional $320 fine for the late filing of an A 1. She opined that the committee may have reasonably believed this fine was included in its previous settlement and said the appeal could be granted under the circumstances. In the alternative, she indicated that a waiver of the $225 fine could be appropriate as well. Mr. Stuber was present on behalf of the committee and said he agreed with the waiver of the fine. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal and waive the fine, which was seconded by Member Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

23) SBE v. Citizens for Hampshire Park District Referendum, 39198, 23SQ207. Ms. Malowitz noted that if the committee remains closed for a period of two years, the fines will be abated. James Vasselli was present on behalf of the committee and stated the committee closed and did not plan to reopen. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

25) SBE v. ZPACT, 39489, 23AS049, 23AD038. Theodore London was present on behalf of the committee and said the violation was an honest oversight. He noted that the committee plans to shut down and remain closed for at least a period of two years. Ms. Malowitz noted that if the committee remains closed for two years, those fines will be abated. Member Ballard Croft moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

17) SBE v. Democrats for the Illinois House, 36786, 22AS048. Ms. Malowitz added that the appeal may also be granted in part, reducing the fine by $1,300, because the assessment letter and report included an incorrect sum total of $30,050. The correct fine total should be $28,750. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal in part and grant the appeal in part, as modified by the General Counsel. Member Cray seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

13) SBE v. People United for Action, 27246, 23AJ022;

14) SBE v. Friends of Curtis Tarver II, 34112, 22AJ045, 23MQ086;

15) SBE v. Teamsters Local Union No. 50 DRIVE Fund, 35512, 23AD022;

16) SBE v. Citizens for Donahue, 36708, 23DQ119;

19) SBE v. Pam Davidson for 17th State Central Committeewoman, 37340, 23AS043;

21) SBE v. Friends of Larry J. Lloyd, 38565, 23DQ142;

22) SBE v. Glen Hughs for Mayor, 39166, 23AJ047, 23DQ165; and

24) SBE v. Committee to Elect Mike Lehman, 39284, 23SQ209. Member McCrory moved to deny the above noted appeals, 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 5.a.26. Member Vrett moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 174-177 of the board packet. Member Cray seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Chair Watson voted present in the matter.

An update on random audits of political committees and a listing of payment of civil penalty assessments were presented for informational purposes.

Member McCrory moved to recess to executive session to consider a complaint 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 Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 10:57 a.m. and reconvened at 11:15 a.m. with the same attendance noted in the initial roll call.

As to agenda item 5.a.29) Jury v. Jury, 24CD006, Member Vrett moved to find that the complaint was not filed on justifiable grounds and the matter be dismissed. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Matthews began her report with a voting system final approval request for the ES&S EVS 5.5.0.3 Election Management System, which was included on pages 181-183 of the board packet. She said the Board’s interim approval of the voting system will expire on September 20, 2024, and that it was first certified in Illinois as version 5300 on September 21, 2015, after a successful testing campaign. Ms. Matthews said ES&S has submitted a request for final approval as no further modifications are intended at this time and recommended the Board grant final approval. Member Cray moved to grant final approval of the system, which was seconded by Member Genovese and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Matthews presented the Hart Verity 2.7IL Engineering Change Orders (ECO’s) included on pages 184-185 of the board packet and noted that board action was not required for the matter. Staff received a request for review of two de minimis changes to the Hart Verity 2.7IL voting system on June 24, 2024. This system had received a two year interim approval on November 21, 2023 after a successful testing campaign. The ECO's were reviewed by the Election Assistance Commission as well as SLI Compliance, an accredited voting system test laboratory, otherwise known as a VSTL. Ms. Matthews reviewed the ECO’s contained in the report and said the changes were presented for informational purposes.

Next on the agenda was the voting system pre-election testing plan for the November 5, 2024 General Election and it was noted that a memo was contained on pages 186-189 of the board packet. Ms. Matthews said that staff may select as many election jurisdictions as the Board deems advisable in the interests of the election process of this state in which to order a special test of the automatic tabulating equipment and program prior to any regular election. Special tests may be ordered in any election jurisdiction where, in the preceding twelve months, computer programming errors or other errors in the use of electronic voting systems resulted in vote tabulation errors. Staff will conduct testing in the counties of Cass, Crawford, Effingham, Jackson, LaSalle, Marshall and Williamson as well as the City of East St. Louis.

Ms. Matthews gave an update on agency legislative activities and said that Brian Pryor, Senior Policy Advisor has received the staff proposals for the upcoming spring legislative agenda. The proposals will be reviewed with those staff members, as well as executive staff and submitted to the legislative sub-committee in the near future. She said the veto session will begin soon and that the agency did not have a formal agenda to submit for this session.

The voter registration activity report, grant funding update, fiscal report and two year plan of staff activity for the months of August and September were presented for informational purposes.

Member McCrory moved to recess to executive session to discuss the minutes of the August 23, 2024 executive session meeting and pending litigation pursuant to Sections 2(c)(11) and 2(c)(21) of the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120. Member Genovese seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 11:30 a.m. and reconvened at 11:37 a.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.

Member Genovese moved to ratify the approval of the August 23, 2024 executive session minutes, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

With there being no further business before the Board, Member Terven moved to adjourn until Wednesday, October 16, 2024. Member Genovese seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting ended at 11:40 a.m.

https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutesAll.aspx