Prairie State Wire

Illinois State Board of Elections met Sept. 16.

Here are the minutes provided by the board:

PRESENT: Laura K. Donahue, Chair

Rick S. Terven, Sr., Vice Chair

Jennifer M. Ballard Croft, Member

Cristina D. Cray, Member

Tonya L. Genovese, Member

Catherine S. McCrory, Member

Jack Vrett, Member

Casandra B. Watson, Member

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 10:05 a.m. via video conference with all Members present. Chair Donahue, Vice Chair Terven and Members Cray and Genovese were present in the Springfield office. Members Ballard Croft, McCrory and Vrett were present in the Chicago office. Member Watson was present via Zoom.

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

Member Cray moved to approve the minutes of the August 19 meeting as presented. Vice Chair Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the following settlement offers for agenda items 2.a.1-3.

1) SBE v. Stadelman for State Senate, 24153, 24AD030. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the settlement offer, as the factors in the settlement guidelines weigh against acceptance. Although the offer is 50% of the fine owed, the balance and receipts ratios were unfavorable and the committee was not considered to be low dollar. Steve Stadelman was present on behalf of the committee and explained that the error was a one-time occurrence and the committee had no history of previous violations. In addition, one of the violations listed was not delinquent and the committee would have appealed the fine if the post office box was checked in a timely matter. After discussion, Member McCrory moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Genovese and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

2) SBE v. Friends of Adair Rodriguez, 36686, 23NF052. Ms. Malowitz recommended acceptance of the settlement offer, as the factors in the settlement guidelines weigh in favor of acceptance. The committee is considered low dollar and recently closed with a zero fund balance. Mr. Rodriquez was present on behalf of the committee and asked for acceptance of the offer, as well as additional time to pay the fine. Member Cray moved to accept the settlement offer to be paid by January 8, 2026. Vice Chair Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

3) SBE v. Friends of Marcus Herbert for Sheriff, 37245, 24DQ105. Ms. Malowitz recommended denial of the settlement offer, as the factors in the settlement guidelines weigh against acceptance. Member Terven moved to deny the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Cray 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 recommendation of the hearing officer to grant the appeal for agenda item 2.a.4.

4) SBE v. Friends for Murri Briel, 39499, 24AD082. Member Cray moved to grant the appeal, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed the appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to deny the appeals for lack of statutory bases for agenda items 2.a.5-8.

5) SBE v. McDonough County Democratic Central Committee, 1055, 24AD013. Beth Nelson was present on behalf of the committee, explained that the error was unintentional and then expressed interest in a settlement offer. The Board instructed her to meet with staff and then return later in the meeting. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

6) SBE v. Citizens for Polk, 18419, 25AM018. Robert Polk was present on behalf of the committee, explained that the error was inadvertent and then expressed interest in a settlement offer. The Board instructed him to meet with staff and then return later in the meeting. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Vice Chair Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

7) SBE v. Citizens for Annette Lidawer, 21817, 24AD023. Ms. Lidawer was present on behalf of the committee and explained that the committee’s online donation platform used an outdated email address to notify her of contributions. She then expressed interest in a settlement offer. The Board instructed her to meet with staff and then return later in the meeting. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Cray and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

8) SBE v. Paul C. Bryson, Sr., 38901, 25NF125. Mr. Bryson was present on behalf of the committee and said the error was unintentional. Mr. Bryson indicated he did not plan to run for future office and thought he closed the committee. He was informed that if the committee remains closed for a period of two years, the fine would be abated. Member McCrory moved to deny the appeal, which was seconded by Member Cray and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

The Board returned to agenda items 2.a.5-7 for consideration of settlement offers.

5) SBE v. McDonough County Democratic Central Committee, 1055, 24AD013 and Ms. Nelson offered a settlement of $500. Vice Chair Terven moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Genovese and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

6) SBE v. Citizens for Polk, 18419, 25AM018 and Mr. Polk offered a settlement of $4,250. Vice Chair Terven moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Watson and failed by roll call vote of 3-5. Members Cray, Genovese, McCrory, Vrett and Chair Donahue voted in the negative. Mr. Polk then offered a revised settlement of $6,375. Member Cray moved to accept the revised settlement offer, which was seconded by Member McCrory and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

7) SBE v. Citizens for Annette Lidawer, 21817, 24AD023 and Ms. Lidawer offered a settlement of $165. Member Vrett moved to accept the settlement offer, which was seconded by Member Cray and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented the appeals of campaign disclosure fines where she concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to deny the appeals for lack of a statutory bases for agenda items 2.a.9-10.

9) SBE v. Friends of Claire Henning, 40154, 25NF174; and

10) SBE v. Citizens for Judith Lukas, 40165, 24MA009. Member Cray moved to deny the above noted appeals, which was seconded by Vice Chair Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed a complaint following public hearing for agenda item 2.a.11.

11) Ekhoff v. Outrage of Kankakee County, Inc., 24CD003. Ms. Malowitz concurred with the recommendation of the hearing officer to find that the committee violated Section 9-10(e) by failing to timely disclose independent expenditures of $1,000 or more. She recommended adopting the findings of fact and conclusions of law on page 83 of the board packet in their entirety, except as to finding of fact two, the date February 20 2024, should read February 20, 2025. In addition, the committee should be ordered to file a D-1 statement of organization and quarterly reports disclosing the three independent expenditures, as well as any other contributions and/or expenditures required by Article 9. The committee should also be ordered to comply with this order within thirty days or face a potential $5,000 fine for violation of a board order. John Fogarty was present on behalf of the complainant. He said that he concurred with the recommendation and requested that the appropriate fines be assessed to the committee. Scott Erdman was present on behalf of the respondent and also concurred with the recommendation. Member Cray moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel to order the committee to file a D-1 statement of organization and quarterly reports disclosing independent expenditures of $2,512 to Staradio, $3,000 to WVLI The Valley, and $1,005 to WIVR River Country, and reports disclosing any other contributions and/or expenditures required by Article 9. The committee is ordered to comply with this order within thirty days or face a potential $5,000 fine for violation of a board order. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented a list of civil penalty assessments necessitating a final board order for agenda item 2.a.12. Vice Chair Terven moved to assess the civil penalties against the committees listed on pages 113-118 of the board packet. Member Cray seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

A list of payments of civil penalty assessments for agenda item 2.a.13 was presented for informational purposes.

Vice Chair Terven 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 Cray seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 11:10 a.m. and reconvened at 11:43 a.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.

As to agenda item 2.a.14) Friends of Matthew Hickey v. Johnson, 25CD042, Member McCrory moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and General Counsel to find that the compliant was not filed on justifiable grounds, as supplemented by the General Counsel as follows. Ms. Malowitz recommended adding: (1) a citation to Sorock v. Illinois State Board of Elections, 2012 IL App (1st) 112740, for the proposition that web design is not a contribution under Illinois law; and (2) a statement that even if a fee had been paid to publish the magazine article in complainant’s Exhibit B, that article was not a contribution because it did not mention the candidate's re-election, and therefore, was not knowingly received in connection with the nomination for election or retention of any candidate or person to or in public office, citing to 10 ILCS 5/9-1.4(a)(1), which is the definition of a contribution. Member Ballard Croft seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

As to agenda item 2.a.15) Morris v. Citizens for Chris Metcalfe, 25CD043, Member Cray moved to dismiss the allegation under Section 9-25.1 for lack of jurisdiction as it is a criminal allegation that cannot be prosecuted by this Board, to dismiss as not filed on justifiable grounds the allegations under 9-3, 9-6, 9-10, and 9-11, with the exception of 9-11(a)(4) and 9-11(a)(16). Subsections 11(a)(4) and (a)(16) were found to have been filed on justifiable ground, however, the committee filed amended reports disclosing the missing contributions, so no further action is required. Member Genovese seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Member Watson abstained from the vote.

The next item on the agenda was consideration of proposed administrative rules for Part 207 Miscellaneous relating to the requirements for payment for voter lists, which were contained on pages 120-125 of the board packet. Ms. Malowitz explained that the proposed rules clarify the acceptable payment methods for those authorized by statute to purchase those lists. She noted that personal checks will no longer be accepted. Member Cray moved to approve the proposed rules as presented, which was seconded by Vice Chair Terven and passed by roll call vote of 8- 0.

Ms. Matthews began her report with an update on staff activities. She informed the Board that candidate petition filing period is October 27, 2025 through November 3, 2025. Staff training is scheduled to begin during the first week in October and staff is busy with those preparations. She thanked the Board for their review and feedback on the compensation study and said that internal implementation is now complete.

Ms. Matthews presented a voting system modification request for the Unisyn Voting Solutions OpenElect 2.2.3, which was included on pages 126-132 of the board packet. Unisyn submitted the request for final approval, as no further modifications are intended at this time. Ms. Matthews indicated that staff will continue to monitor the voting system through special testing ahead of each election to ensure no defects or system anomalies occur. Based on the system having met all testing requirements to date and based on its performance during the interim approval period, staff is recommending final approval. Member Genovese moved to grant final approval for the Unisyn Voting Solutions OpenElect 2.2.3, which was seconded by Member Vrett and passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Matthews briefed the Board on legislative activities and noted that Brian Pryor, Senior Policy Advisor was currently in attendance at a JCAR hearing in Chicago. Executive staff is reviewing the internal legislative requests from staff for the spring agenda and will send those proposals to the legislative sub-committee for their first review. Ms. Matthews said the proposed legislative agenda will be presented to the Board at the November meeting. She also discussed the upcoming veto session and said she will keep the legislative subcommittee updated and the full Board as necessary.

The voter registration activity report, grant funding update, FY25/26 fiscal status reports and two year plan of staff activity for the months of September and October were presented for informational purposes.

The Board discussed the grant funding update and whether the local election authorities have received any grant funding from sources other than those administered by the agency. Ms. Matthews indicated that staff will survey the election authorities and update the Board as needed.

As to the fiscal reports, Ms. Matthews acknowledged a request from Member Cray to itemize the expenditures in the special projects fund.

Member Cray moved to recess to executive session to discuss pending litigation and the minutes of the August 19 executive session meeting pursuant to Sections 2(c)(11) and 2(c)(21) of the Open Meetings Act, 5 ILCS 120. Vice Chair Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 12:08 p.m. and reconvened at 12:12 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.

Member Cray moved to approve the August 19 executive session minutes as presented. Member Genovese seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

With there being no further business, Vice Chair Terven moved to adjourn until Tuesday, October 21, 2025. Member Cray seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 12:15 p.m.

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