Peoria Standard

Illinois State Board of Elections met Jan. 19.

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

William M. McGuffage, Member

Rick S. Terven, Sr., Member

ALSO PRESENT:

Bernadette M. Matthews, Acting Executive Director

Marni M. Malowitz, General Counsel

Amy L. Calvin, Administrative Assistant III

The meeting convened at 10:30 a.m. via Zoom conference with all Members present.

Chair Linnabary opened the meeting by leading everyone in the pledge of allegiance. He then declared that an in-person meeting was not practical or prudent pursuant to Section 7(e) of the Open Meetings Act because of a disaster: rising COVID infection rates and hospitalization rates throughout Illinois. 5 ILCS 120/7(e).

Chair Linnabary said that the swearing in of newly appointed Board Member Tonya L. Genovese was the first order of business and introduced the Honorable Leslie J. Graves, Retired Circuit Judge, 7th Judicial Circuit. Ms. Genovese recited the oath as Judge Graves conducted the ceremony. Chair Linnabary welcomed Member Genovese to the Board.

Chair Linnabary presented and read aloud a Resolution to Cheryl Hobson in honor of her retirement effective January 31, 2022. Kyle Thomas, Director of Voting and Registration Systems thanked Ms. Hobson for her many years of service and friendship and wished her well in retirement.

Member Cadigan moved to approve the minutes from the December 21 meeting as presented. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 7-0. Member Genovese abstained from the vote.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 5.a.1) SBE v. Friends of LaPointe, 35544, 20MA082. She concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal, however, did not recommend applying the new penalty limitations included in the revised Section 9-10 of the Election Code as recently passed in Public Act 102-668. Ms. Malowitz indicated that there was nothing in the legislation to suggest that fines assessed before the revised statute effective date be retroactive. Attorney Heather Wier Vaught was present on behalf of the committee and said that this final action by the Board is occurring after the November effective date. She opined that it was not a retroactive issue and that the Board would have discretion to apply the new fine structure in this matter. Discussion ensued regarding the applicability of the new law and Ms. Malowitz referred to Illinois Supreme Court case First of America Bank, Rockford, N.A. v. Netsch to support her position. 166 Ill.2d 165, 182 (1995). The holding in that case is that statutes are presumed to apply prospectively only and will not be given retroactive effect absent clear language within the statute indicating that the legislature intended such an effect.

Ms. Wier Vaught took the position that the fine may have been imposed prior to the statute being amended, but the actual fine has not been impose until the Board has ruled on the appeal. Ms. Malowitz indicated that a fine is imposed by the assessment letter sent to the committee. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel to deny the appeal. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 5.a.2) SBE v. Taylor Made for Lisle, 36518, 21MQ195 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the hearing officer and general counsel to deny the appeal. Member Donahue seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 5.a.3) SBE v. Citizens for Gregory Harris, 19853, 20MA062 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal regarding the Walgreens donation. However, Ms. Malowitz did not concur with the hearing officer recommendation to grant the appeal regarding the August 2019 donations based on the one time use of the electronic filing defense. No evidence was presented to suggest that the committee contacted staff within three days, as required by the rule. Ms. Weir Vaught was present on behalf of the committee and asked the board to uphold the recommendation of the hearing officer as to the electronic filing defense. She also acknowledged that such documentation could not be found and was unable to produce such at the hearing. Ms. Weir Vaught said she had the authority to entertain a settlement offer on behalf of the committee and offered $8,375, which was 50% of the fine. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel to deny the appeal and accept the settlement offer of $8,375. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 5.a.4) SBE v. Citizens for Debbie Meyers Martin, 24887, 20MA066 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal in part and order the committee to file an amended report. She did not agree with granting the appeal in part with respect to the in kind contributions from the Democratic Party of Illinois. Ms. Weir Vaught was present on behalf of the committee and said it was an honest clerical error. She also indicated the committee did not have the documentation from the Democratic Party of Illinois committee corroborating the error because it no longer exists. Ms. Weir Vaught then offered a settlement amount of $3,665. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel to deny the appeal and accept the settlement offer of $3,665. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Ms. Malowitz presented and reviewed an appeal of campaign disclosure fines for agenda item 5.a.5) SBE v. Friends of Scott Stoll, 35807, 20MA088 and concurred with the hearing officer recommendation to deny the appeal in part and order the committee to file an amended report. She did not agree with granting the appeal in part with respect to the February 2020 in kind donations because no supporting evidence was presented corroborating an error in the reporting date. Ms. Wier Vaught was present on behalf of the committee and indicated the committee was planning to dissolve until the fine notice was received almost a year later. The committee had a funds balance of less than $5,000 and the person responsible for the reports made inadvertent error. She also indicated the committee did not have the documentation from the Democratic Majority because it no longer exists. Discussion was had with respect to the treatment of A-1 violations and multi assessments. Ms. Weir Vaught then offered a settlement amount of $2,122. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of the general counsel to deny the appeal and accept the settlement offer of $2,122. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

A listing of payment of civil penalty assessments contained on page 34 of the board packet was presented for informational purposes.

Ms. Malowitz presented the proposed amended rules for Part 100, Campaign Financing and Part 125, Practice and Procedure included on pages 35-53 of the board packet and separate cover. She said that most of the revisions were necessitated by recent bills enacted by the legislature, clean up language for things that have proved to be problematic over the years and other minor clarifications. Another change to the language will allow paper filings to be sent via facsimile or e-mail, not just by mailing to the office. Ms. Malowitz reported that staff contacted over a dozen Bar Associations and attorneys to offer them an opportunity for public comment on the new fine structure in Part 125. No public comments were received, however, there will be two public comment periods through the JCAR rulemaking process as mandated by the Administrative Procedure Act. Board discussion was had and it was decided to place the matter on the February meeting agenda to allow more time to review the proposes rules and offer individual changes to the general counsel.

Ms. Matthews began the report of the Executive Director with consideration of the proposed Employee Policy Manual update contained on pages 54-181 of the board packet. She indicated that a working group of agency staff was formed to conduct a full comprehensive overview. The policy manual was updated to incorporate suggestions from two consultants related to policy and procedure,, one of which was the inclusion of an equity, diversity and inclusion statement. Other modifications were made to provide staff a more accessible complaint process and to carve out a higher duty of reporting for supervisors of complaints. Overall, no major substantive changes were made to the policies and procedures that would be considered a full departure from current policy. Ms. Matthews said that an approval was not necessary at this time, as the updated manual was merely being presented to the Board for initial discussion. The Board agreed to place this matter on a future meeting agenda for further discussion and approval.

Ms. Matthews updated the board with a report on the Advisory Committee meeting that was held on January 13, 2022. She said the meeting was well attended and staff provided informational updates on projects previously presented to the Advisory Committee. Topics included legislative and IVRS re-write project updates, voter data submission, judicial redistricting, an update on accessible vote by mail, an agency outreach program, and a FOIA guidance update. The next meeting of the Advisory Committee will be held in May 2022.

Ms. Matthews presented a voting system modification request for Hart InterCivic Verity 2.6 and stated that the corresponding report from Director Kyle Thomas and a staff testing report was contained on pages 183-205 of the board packet. She noted that Mr. Thomas recommended a two year interim approval of the system. Mr. Thomas reviewed his memo and said this was a modification to a system that was granted a one year interim in April 2021. In the April report, there were recommendations provided and Hart demonstrated their compliance related to those recommendations. Mr. Thomas reported that SLI Compliance tested the system against the Voluntary Voting System Guidelines (VVSG) 1.1, and they found that the system was in compliance, with the exception of one previously identified item that the Board had voted to allow Hart to move forward with previously. Short of that one minor instance, the system was found to be in full compliance with VVSG 1.1. Member Cadigan moved to adopt the recommendation of Mr. Thomas as outlined in his memo and grant a two year interim approval. Ms. McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Next on the agenda was the legislative update from Angela Ryan, which was included on pages 206-211 of the board packet. Ms. Ryan said that a listing of election bills that were currently viable in the House and Senate for the 102nd General Assembly was outlined in her memo. She reported that session was cancelled for the remainder of January due to COVID and scheduled to return the first week of February. Ms. Ryan indicated that she and Ms. Matthews met with the U.S. Department of Justice to discuss UOCAVA military and overseas voters and those deadlines for ballot delivery. Discussion was had regarding education and training of the local election officials to ensure those ballots are sent within the deadlines. Ms. Ryan gave a brief update on the 2022 agency initiatives and said she is in the process of securing bi-partisan sponsorship of those bills.

She also reported that the House budget hearing is scheduled for February 23rd at 4:00 p.m. and the Senate budget hearing is scheduled for March 16th at 10:00 a.m.

Ms. Matthews presented an informational memo from Brian Pryor outlining the agency procedures and responsibilities in relation to district map creation and publication following redistricting. It was noted that staff also updated the district locator on the website with improvements that allow for a more user friendly experience. Mr. Pryor responded to questions from the Board regarding the development of metes and bounds and production of the new maps.

The IVRS update was presented and included a memo from Dustin Schultz on page 214 of the board packet. Mr. Thomas previously held a Zoom meeting with new Members McCrory and Terven to provide a historical overview of the IVRS project and it was suggested that the link to that recording be circulated to the entire Board.

Ms. Matthews presented a staff report from the National Association of Secretaries of State (NASS) Tech Talk & Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) Cyber Navigator Forum for informational purposes. The voter registration activity update, fiscal status reports and update on staff activity for the months of January and February were presented for informational purposes as well.

Ms. Matthews presented an amended FY22 Board meeting schedule and said that the Juneteenth state holiday was scheduled for Monday, June 20, 2022. She explained that when a state holiday falls on a Monday, the regular monthly meeting normally will fall on the Wednesday after the holiday to allow a full business day to prepare for the meeting. Member Cadigan moved to approve the meeting change to Wednesday, June 22, 2022. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

Member Cadigan moved to recess to executive session to consider litigation and the appointment and employment of certain staff pursuant to 5 ILCS 120/2(c)(1) and 2(c)(11) of the Open Meetings Act. Member McCrory seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0. The meeting recessed at 1:00 p.m. and reconvened at 2:20 p.m. with the same attendance as noted in the initial roll call.

Chair Linnabary asked for a motion to affirm the actions taken during executive session. Vice Chair Watson moved to appoint Bernadette Matthews to the position of Executive Director for a four year term, and direct the Chair, Vice Chair, and General Counsel to confer with Ms. Matthews regarding the details of the contract. Member McGuffage seconded the motion, which passed by roll call vote of 8-0.

With there being no further business before the Board, Member McCrory moved to adjourn until Tuesday, February 15, 2022. Member Terven seconded the motion, which passed unanimously. The meeting ended at 2:35 p.m.

https://www.elections.il.gov/AboutTheBoard/MeetingMinutes.aspx?MID=8HKWm16HSC8%3d&T=637823660729726305