Board of Election Commissioners of the City of Chicago met April 25.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
Board Members:
Marisel A. Hernandez, Chairwoman
William J. Kresse, Commissioner/Secretary
Jonathan T. Swain, Commissioner
Staff:
Lance Gough, Executive Director [Absent]
Kelly Bateman, Assistant Executive Director
James M. Scanlon, General Counsel
Jim Allen, Communications Director
Lorel Blameuser, Manager-Purchasing
Peter Peso, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer
Lacretia Dandridge
Bill Perez, Coordinator Hispanic Outreach
Gary Rycyzyn, Consultant
Geneva Morris, Videographer
Trish Sheehy
Guests:
Helene S. Gabelnick, League of Women Voters-Chicago
Chaya Rubenstein, Clean Count Cook County
Abe Lentner, Beverly CPA
Judd Ryan, ES&S
I. Call to Order: The Regular Board Meeting was called to order at 9:10 A.M.
II. Roll Call: Marisel A. Hernandez, Chairwoman, William J. Kresse, Commissioner/Secretary, Jonathan T. Swain, Commissioner were all present
III. Consideration of Agenda: The agenda was approved as presented
IV. Approval of Minutes:
A. Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of April 11, 2017 Commissioner Swain moved to approve the Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of April 11, 2017. Commissioner Kresse seconded the motion and the Minutes were approved by unanimous vote of the Board.
V. Executive Director's Report - Executive Director Gough was absent.
A. Assistant Executive Director
The Assistant Executive Director had nothing new to report, other than that the office is satisfactorily processing the work that they have.
B. Communications Director:
The Communications Director reminded that Board that at the last meeting the Board approved settlement agreement between the Board and the U.S. Department of Justice (DoJ) regarding securing polling places that are accessible under the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). Last week the DoJ provided us with a preview of their news release, with which we had no edits and agreed with the content. We also issued our own news release which focused on how the Board will likely need to make modifications or site changes to several hundred polling places.
Staff Is reviewing the November 2016 survey data so we can begin sharing this with various City agencies(Library, Park District, Chicago Public Schools, etc.). This will begin the process to identify which polling places can be modified and which will need to be replaced.
We have also begun outreach with Democratic and Republican Ward Committeemen and members of the City Council with information about polling places in the individual Wards that may need modification or replacement.
Also, since the last Board meeting we hosted a voting equipment mini expo geared mostly for the General Public. Four vendors presented: Clear Ballot, Hart InterCivic, Election Systems and Software, and Dominion Voting Systems. Each vendor was allotted 30 minutes for presentation, and 30 minutes for questions. We videotaped all of the proceedings, and the videos have been posted on the internet. Mr. Allen reported that we have received very positive feedback from both the vendors and the members of the public that were in attendance.
We are preparing the specifications for the full canvass, which we anticipate to be in the mail in August.
The Chairwoman thanked Mr. Allen for organizing the voting equipment event.
VI. Old Business
A. Infrastructure Projects and Changes in Election Administration: already covered.
B. Electronic Poll Books: Judd Ryan of ES&S reported that the Board has completed the post-election work, and is setting its sights on the next election.
C. Voting Equipment: already covered.
D. Legislation: General Counsel Scanlon stated that there is nothing specific to report. The General Assembly was in recess the last two weeks and is coming back this week. There may be some action later this week and Mr. Scanlon will keep the Board apprised of any new developments.
VII. New Business
A. Precinct redistricting affecting two precincts of the 13th Ward.
Assistant Executive Director Bateman reported that the redistricting would affect precincts 15 and 40 of the Ward. The Board was asked to shift the borders about three blocks in order to more even out the number of registered voters within the two precincts. The current number of registered voters in precinct 40 is 478, and the number of registered voters in precinct 15 is 891. If the redistricting were approved it would adjust precinct 40 to 651 registered voters, and precinct 15 would have 718.
A motion to approve the changes in precincts 15 and 40 of the 13th Ward was made by Commissioner Kresse and seconded by Commissioner Swain. The motion was passed by a 3:0 vote of the Board.
B. Consideration and Approval of the Preliminary 2018 Election Calendar:
General Counsel Scanlon pointed out that the 2018 Election Calendar before the Board is labeled "Preliminary" because at this time many of the signature requirements have not yet been determined by either the State Board of Elections (for statewide candidates, legislative candidates and judicial candidates) or the Cook County Clerk (for County offices). Once that information is developed by those two agencies, the calendar can be amended to reflect this change and the "Preliminary" label can be removed.
Mr. Scanlon Another also noted that in the past the Calendar had a notation on we had an entry the day before each election day with regard to the deadline imposed by Statute for advising election authorities (including the Board) when a voter with disabilities would request curbside voting. While the Statute requires that the notice be in writing The Board has never required that. Additionally, in practice, the Board has provided this service even if requested on Election Day, and will continue to do so. In light of the settlement agreement with the Department of Justice entries have been removed from the Calendar.
Commissioner Kresse asked for confirmation that no candidate petitions would be filed with this agency for the 2018 election cycle. Mr. Scanlon confirmed that no petitions would be filed with the Board by candidates, but that petitions for referenda may still be filed with the Chicago Board of Elections. But no candidate petitions will be filed with the Board.
Motion to approve the Preliminary 2018 Election Calendar was made by Commissioner Swain and seconded by Commissioner Kresse. The motion passed and the Preliminary Calendar was approved by unanimous vote of the Board.
VIII. Legal Report: Mr. Scanlon had nothing to report at this time.
IX. Financial Report:
A. Balance Sheet and Voucher Listings for the City of Chicago- 2017
Appropriation-17-03 dated April 25,2017 in the amount of $465,274.66
Motion to approve the Balance Sheet and Voucher Listings for the City of Chicago- 2017 Appropriation -17-03 dated April 25, 2017 in the amount of $465,274.66 was made by Commissioner Kresse, seconded by Commissioner Swain. The motion was passed by unanimous vote of the Board.
X. Public Comment:
A. Abe Lentner of Beverly CPA (Connect, Protect &Activate):
Mr. Lentner stated that he was a registered Chicago voter for nearly 20 years and was with the group "Beverly Connect, Protect &Activate". He stated that that every election that he has experience has been neat and orderly, so really appreciate allof the work the Board puts in to running the elections in Chicago.
Mr. Lentner asked that in light of news reports last fall regarding hacked Illinois electronic voter data, whether there are protections in place for voter data in Chicago?
Communications Director Allen responded by first informing Mr. Lentner that the hack that he referenced occurred not with the Chicago Board, but with the State Board of Elections online voter registration system. Mr.Allen then went into some details regarding the protections at the Board for both registration data and polling data, and assured Mr. Lentner that both are secure.
Mr. Lentner also invited the Board to send a representative to the Beverly CPA's meeting on Tuesday, May 9**^ in order to explain the security over Chicago election data and to put many people's minds at ease.
XI. Executive Session: None
XII. Adjournment: A motion to adjourn to the next Regular Board Meeting on Tuesday, May 9-2017 at 9:00 a.m. was made by Commissioner Swain, seconded by Commissioner Kresse, and passed by unanimous vote of the Board. Meeting was adjourned at 9:29 a.m.
http://app.chicagoelections.com/documents/general/BoardMeetingMinutes-2017-04-25.pdf
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