DuPage County Election Commission met April 9.
Here is the minutes provided by the Commission:
The proceedings of the DuPage County Election Commission at a regular meeting held in Room 3-500A of the Jack T. Knuepfer Building, DuPage Center, 421 North County Farm Road, Wheaton, Illinois, on Monday, April 9, 2018, at 9:00 a.m.
Commissioner Terrill called the meeting to order. On roll call, Commissioners Terrill, Boske and Lowe were present. Commissioner Terrill led the pledge of allegiance. Also present were Joseph Sobecki, Executive Director, and Patrick Bond, Legal Counsel.
Commissioner Terrill requested approval to certify and make official the Canvass for the March 20, 2018, General Election.
Commissioner Boske moved, seconded by Commissioner Lowe, to approve and certify and make official the Canvass for the March 20, 2018, General Election. Commissioners Boske, Lowe and Terrill voted “aye”. Motion carried.
Commissioner Terrill opened the floor for public comment. There were two (2) comments presented.
The first comment was from Ms. Jean Kaczmarek concerning the use of Liberty Systems as a vendor.
The second comment was from Mr. Stan Zegel, thanking Commissioner Terrill for her service.
With concurrence of the Board, Commissioner Terrill reported the following from Executive Session:
As many of you know, at the last meeting, the Board met in closed Executive Session relative to probable litigation in connection with the contract with Liberty Systems, LLC, in connection with the election kit and supplies contract. No final action was taken during Executive Session.
The Board had an opportunity in that Executive Session to confer with legal counsel concerning the contractual obligations of Liberty Systems.
There was consensus but no action, based upon the failure of Liberty Systems to perform its contractual obligations and the impact this had on the Election Commission’s ability to timely report the election night results, the Election Commission is left with no alternative but to pursue all remedies available, up to and including litigation.
The Election Commission will seek to recover damages attributable to Liberty Systems’ clear breach of contract.
Commissioner Boske motioned, seconded by Commissioner Lowe, to approve and make a matter of record the minutes of the March 7, 2018, Board meeting. Commissioners Lowe, Boske and Terrill voted “aye”. Motion carried.
Commissioner Boske motioned, seconded by Commissioner Lowe, to approve and make a matter of record the minutes of the April 3, 2018, Board meeting. Commissioners Lowe, Boske and Terrill voted “aye”. Motion carried.
Executive Director Sobecki presented items for approval to the Board as follows:
Recommended: Approval of a Change Order on PO#3031-0001 for: Prager Moving & Storage Co. for an additional amount of $240.00 on line item 1 for return charges at polling locations on Election Day 3/20/18 that were not included in the original Purchase Order (P.O.) estimate for that election.
Original P.O. Amount: $186,960.00 (amount for all four 2018-2019 elections)
Line Item 1 for March 20, 2018 election: $59,070.00
New Line Item 1 amount: $59,310.00
New P.O. Amount: 187,200.00
After discussion, Commissioner Lowe moved, seconded by Commissioner Boske, to approve the Change Order to Prager Moving & Storage Co. On roll call, Commissioners Boske, Lowe and Terrill voted “aye”. Motion carried.
Commissioner Boske moved, seconded by Commissioner Lowe, to approve Finance Resolution F-004-18: payment of EC Bills. After discussion, on roll call, Commissioners Boske, Lowe and Terrill voted "aye". Motion carried.
Resolution:
F-004-18
Whereas, the Finance Committee of the DuPage County Election Commission, State of Illinois, has examined and approved for the payment of claims attached.
Now, Therefore, Be It Resolved by the DuPage County Election Commission that the DuPage County Treasurer be and is hereb y directed and empowered to make payment of each of the claims contained on the attached hereto, pursuant to the approval thereof by the DuPage County Election Commission.
Be It Further Resolved that the Executive Director transmit a certified copy of this Resolution to the DuPage County Finance Department, the DuPage County Treasurer and to the Chief Judge of the Eighteenth Judicial Circuit.
Adopted this 9th day of April 2018
In addition to the Executive Director’s Report, Executive Director Sobecki provided updates to the Board as follows:
In terms of the voting turnout, there were 157,671 total ballots. 83,546 were Democratic ballots. 73,201 were Republican ballots, and 924 non-partisan ballots were cast. The majority of votes came from the polling place. We had 69,036 Democratic ballots cast in the polling place, and 61,530 Republican. Compared to the previous gubernatorial race, where there was a total of almost 12,000 total Democratic ballots cast, there has been a large increase – which ends up resulting in a 5% increase over all.
In regards to the appropriation of Federal funds for upcoming elections, it will be approximately $13,000,000 for Illinois. The State will first explore how to implement the funding, but with 109 election authorities, it won’t be enough to address most of the issues, but will look at how to best use that amount. It’s about 10% of the $150,000,000 we saw with HAVA.
The Election Commission received a lot of feedback about the polling places used. This is common for March elections, as it comes after the most recent Precinct changes. Last cycle we added 60 additional Precincts. Staff is looking at polling places, will review all comments, and address those that they are able.
One of the election items for review is the ability to communicate with the judges with a uniform message in an expedited manner. In the last election we used a network tree, calling our Field Representatives, and they called the ten locations on their route. Commercially there are products that cost between $40 and $50 a month, but the County has also offered use of their emergency communication system. Executive Director Sobecki has spoken with the DuPage Department of Homeland Security, and they are willing to work with us in terms of communicating with the judges, not only in an emergency, but in sending out reminders to the judges. Utilizing their system, we can load the information from the cell phones provided to the judges, and we would be able to broadcast text messages or emails. The software allows us to break messages into specific groups, or we can send to everyone if appropriate. We are looking to having this in place in November.
Another long-term option is that some of the ePollbook vendors have the ability to do one-way broadcasting or two-way messaging. Our current vendor does not currently have this feature in their software. The contract for the current ePollbook vendor ends after the November election, so when we go out to bid again, we can move messaging capabilities higher on the priority list.
In regards to election night communications with the County or outside, we’re working on filling a vacant Election Division Manager position. This will help with operations, so that when issues arise, Executive Director Sobecki will be available to communicate with the public and the County.
In terms of equipment processing, a process was developed 17 years ago which classified the Ender Cards as a non-specific item, placing them as part of the Precinct Kit. Moving forward we are reviewing testing protocols not only concerning the Ender Card, but also the entire process to identify if there is anything else classified two decades ago that may cause issues. The logistics of that testing will most likely be more in the ballot testing process. With the procurement process, when reviewing contract paperwork, counsel suggested additional language that would provide additional options and coverage. We will work with legal and the State’s Attorney to implement revisions.
Legal Counsel has at the Board’s request invited Chief Judge, Daniel Guerin to attend the May 9th Board meeting, and he has accepted the invitation.
Commissioner Terrill entertained a motion, moved by Commissioner Boske, seconded by Commissioner Lowe, to adjourn. Commissioners Lowe, Boske and Terrill voted "aye". Motion carried. The next Board meeting will be on May 9th at 4:00 p.m. in Room 3-500A.
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