City of Chicago Board of Election Commissioners met August 8.
Here is the minutes provided by the Board:
Board Members:
Marisei A. Hernandez, Chairwoman
William J. Kresse, Commissioner/Secretary
Jonathan T. Swain, Commissioner
Staff:
Lance Gough, Executive Director
Adam W. Lasker, General Counsel
James P. Alien, Communications Director [absent]
Peter Peso, Deputy Chief Administrative Officer
Audra Lewicki, Manager-Community Services
Lorel Blameuser, Manager- Purchasing
Bill Perez, Coordinator Hispanic Outreach
LaCretia Dandridge, Manager- Human Resources
Geneva Morris, Videographer
Gary Rycyzyn, Consultant
Irish Sheehy
Guests:
Sue Casey, ES&S
Helene Gabelnick, League of Women Voters of Chicago
Barry Taylor, Equip for Equality
Waldeep Shah, Dominion Voting
Sandy Hed, Election Works
Melanie Sampson, Literacy Works
Christine Kenny, Literacy Works
Don Olson
I. Call to Order: The Chairwoman called the meeting to order at: The meeting was called to order at 9:14 a.m.
II. Roll Call: Chairwoman Marisel A. Hernandez, Commissioner William J. Kresse and Commissioner Jonathan T. Swain were all present.
III. Consideration of Agenda: The agenda was accepted as presented
IV. Approval of Minutes:
A. Minutes of the Regular Board Meeting of June 27,2017 Commissioner Swain made a motion to approve the Minutes of the Reguiar Board Meeting of June 27,2017. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Kresse and was passed by unanimous vote of the Board
V. Executive Director's Report
Executive Director Gough reported that the Board recently completed the first maiiing for the maii canvass and are waiting for returns. In general, the canvass went well except for two issues that emerged. The first issue was that the verification cards iisted Mentai Health Districts. The Mentai Heaith Districts invoives iess than 200 precincts, and have appointed Boards, inclusion of the Mentai Heaith Districts generated many calis from concerned voters. These districts wiil not appear in future maiiings.
The second issue that emerged is that severai voters caiied to inform us that the perforated Verification of Registration card portion was missing from the mailer. We are trying to find out the locations affected, although this appears to be scattered. Board staff had a very good meeting with Equip for Equality on Thursday August 3rd. The Board now has a list showing that the poliing piace accessibiiity survey is now aimost 99% compiete. Mr. Gough and staff wiii meet with City officials to discuss the remaining accessibility issues. We wiil continue to work with Equip for Equality and the City on these issues.
Mr. Gough wiii take part in a conference cail with the iilinois State Board of Elections regarding security over the State voter registration system.
Audra Lewicki, Manager of Community Services, then addressed the Board and introduced officials from Literacy Works, a non-profit organization that is Chicago's leading expert in adult literacy. The Board partnered with Literacy Works for the November 2016 Election in order to update and increase the readability of the Provisional Ballot instructions. Election Day Registration Instructions, split precinct instructions, and the Certificate of Results. The resulting product was very good. Staff is proposing that the Board partner again with Literacy Works for the March 2018 Primary to increase the readability of the Election Judge and Election Coordinator Handbook.
Literacy Works Executive Director Christine Kenny, Literacy Specialist Melanie Sampson addressed the Board, detailing the type of work that their organization will provide to the Board. A. Assistant Executive Director [absent]
B. Communications Director [absent]
VI. Old Business
A. Infrastructure Projects and Changes in Election Administration: Mr, Gough reported that the REP for equipment has been issued. Purchasing Manager Lorel Blameuser reported that she had received questions from vendors and the Board's responses, in the form of an Addendum to the RFP, will be issued tomorrow.
B. Electronic Poll Books: Mr. Gough indicated there are some new developments regarding this and would like to meet separately with each Board Members to discuss this item.
C. Voting Equipment: The RFP has been issued.
D. Legislation
General Counsel Adam Lasker reported that the latest legislative developments generally do not impact the Chicago Board.
Among the latest developments is a Bill regarding the Publication of proposed Constitutional Amendments which has been sent to the Governor.
A proposed ballot photograph law remains in the Assignments Committee. This bill would make it legal to take your ballot "selfle" but illegal to use it for improper purposes. In a related note, a downstate trial court ruled that the current law that prohibits such photos is unconstitutional.
A bill regarding Public Policy notice, and the timing of the notice, has been sent to the Governor.
A bill on the number of Election Judges in Jurisdictions not under Boards of Election has passed both Houses and Is on the way to the Governor. It would allow the County to reduce the number of Judge of Election from 5 to 3 per precinct. This bill will not affect us.
There are two School Board bills pending in Springfield: one for an elected Chicago School Board and one regarding am elected Community College Board. The Chicago Elected School Board Bill is going back to the Non-Concurrence Committee, while the Community College bill is back to Senate Assignments Committee. A bill allowing people to attain residency for voting purposes in hospitals and mental institutions if they have been there for over 180 days has been re-referred to the Assignments Committee.
The Digitized Signature Biii has been sent back to the Non-Concurrence Committee.
A bill on to change the minimum and maximum signature requirements to place new parties and independents on a ballot has been re-referred to the Assignments Committee.
VII. New Business
A. Agreement between the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners for the City of Chicago and Literacy Works for Election Judge/Election Coordinator Handbook Revision Services
A motion to accept the contract at a rate of $90/hour not to exceed the sum of twenty-seven thousand dollars, with a term of July 24,2017 to October 31,2017 as was stated for the review, analysis and editorial revisions to the 2016 Board's Election Judge and Election Coordinator Handbook, was made by Commissioner Kresse and seconded by Commissioner Swain. The motion passed by a vote of 3:0.
VIII. Legal Report
General Counsel Lasker mentioned again the Madison County ruling making the current "seifies" ban unconstitutional. The General Counsel will continue to watch this case in order to properly instruct our precinct workers.
The General Counsel will also be following a First District case from Franklin Park dealing with the Statement of Economic Interest forms
General Counsel Lasker informed the Board that he has been invited to the Piisen Law Center by the Latino Lawyers Committee which will be holding a panel discussion on how to run for office. Mr. Lasker stated he will be talking about practical considerations when running for office.
IX. Financial Report: None.
X. Public Comment: None.
XI. Executive Session regarding pending litigation
Motion by Commissioner Swain to enter into Executive Session for the purpose of discussing pending litigation as allowed by Section 2(c){ll) of the Illinois Open Meetings Act. Commissioner Kresse seconded the motion. Motion passed by unanimous vote of the Board.
The Board entered into closed Executive Session at 9:37 a.m.
The Board returned to open session at 9:46 a.m. No action was taken during closed session that needed to be made by motion in open session
XII. Adjournment
Commissioner Kresse moved to adjourn. The motion was seconded by Commissioner Swain and passed by unanimous vote of the Board.
The meeting was adjourned at 9:47 a.m.
https://app.chicagoelections.com/documents/general/BoardMeetingMinutes-2017-08-08.pdf
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