The annual meeting began with Chief Judge Kate Gorman swearing in newly reappointed Commissioners Matt Bartolo and James Manning.  New officers included Jim Manning as chairman, Mark Ketterer as vice-chairman, Sandra Burke as treasurer, and Matt Bartolo as secretary.
 
Executive Director Tom Bride gave an update on the Request for Proposal for a new voting system.  He has received valuable feedback from the county’s IT department.  He is trying not to have it look like they are after a particular company.  He expects to send out the Request within a week.  During the next two weeks, he expects to be answering questions, and should be getting proposals in a month.  Staff and the County will then go over them before a recommendation is brought to the Board.  Final payment should be made after the June 28 election to ensure that the system works as projected.  Funding for the system comes from the County’s capital fund, not the Commission’s budget.
 
Placement of voting drop boxes was deferred until next month.  Director Bride wants to hold discussions with party leaders as to placement of the boxes.  He prefers to have them located in public buildings.
 
Under New Business, Dr. Pinto announced that he will be moving from the area this fall.  Judge Gorman is aware of this and will need to name a replacement for him.
 
Under Public Comment, Director Bride very capably explained to a skeptical observer that no voting systems in the United States are connected to the internet.
 
Irene Pritzker, Observer

​The Peoria County Election Commission met on Tuesday, July 13, 2021, with all commissioners present.  They had a first discussion of the 2022 budget.  It will have to be voted on during the August meeting before being submitted to the County Board.  Executive Director Tom Bride expects some increases due to more Vote by Mail.  There should be more money for election judges, including overtime, and more dropboxes.  Some equipment is left over from 2020.  Director Bride expects a 35-40% voter turnout in November of 2022 because of the new Vote by Mail law.  He is concerned about a 100% increase in insurance because he not yet sure why this should be.  The office has five full time and one part time employee.
The Request for Proposal for a new voting system will not affect the budget.  That money comes from capital funds.  Director Bride needs to sit down with IT from the County, then the attorney, and then the finance office before the RFP can be sent out.
Once redistricting is completed, the office will need to send out registration cards.  It is anticipated that federal money will be available to pay for safer dropboxes and other security.  Bride will check with both political parties before deciding on locations for the boxes—preferably in public locations such as libraries.
Chairman Matt Bartolo took a moment to publicly thank the League of Women Voters for helping to convince the County Board to pass the budget amendment allowing the Commission to spend the $19,000 left from the Tech and Civic Life Grant.
 Irene Pritzker, Observer

​   The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners held its monthly meeting on June 8, 2021, with all commissioners present except for Commissioner Burke.  The only unusual expenditure was for property tax on the building.  It was thought that they would not have to pay that tax since they are a government body, but that has proven not to be true.  The whole year’s levy was paid to the owner of the building for 55% of the total due.  The owner is responsible for paying the real estate tax.
   Much of the rest of the meeting was spent discussing an issue with the Center for Tech & Civic Life Grant.  This grant was received last year to help defray election costs arising from the pandemic.  The County Board approved the receipt of this grant.  The total grant was for $109,000, and there is $19,000 left that can be spent until the end of July 2021.  Director Tom Bride asked the County Board to amend the Commission’s budget so that this money can be spent.  At the last County Board meeting, this request was voted down.  Some County Board members expressed an unwillingness to accept money for elections from a private entity, even though there were no strings attached.  When Director Bride tried to explain that the money was already here, he was not allowed to speak!  Only two Board members voted against receiving the grant last year, but a 2/3 vote was needed to pass the amendment to the budget.  Director Bride will go back to the Ways and Means committee on June 21, and hopefully will be able to gain passage at the July 8 full Board meeting.
  A Request For Proposal for a new voting system should be going out by the end of June.  There was a slight delay due to a new voting law passed recently by the State of Illinois.  The next primary will be June 28, so there is plenty of time.  Director Bride, also, expects growth in Vote-By-Mail since voters will be able to have a permanent mail-in ability.  He wants to gather data from other states so that information can be included in the RFP.  There will be some advantages in having numbers known in advance, but there could be staffing changes as well.
 Irene Pritzker, Observer 

​The Peoria County Election Commission met on Tuesday, May 11, 2021, with all present except for Commissioner Burke.  In the discussion of expenditures, Director Bride pointed out that the Commission was $65,000 under budget, even with the added expense of cleaning three voting locations which was promised before the election.  These savings were due primarily to having fewer judges than in the past.
Director Bride pointed out that the Commissioners were only getting ½ of their normal pay (which is set by statute).  Last spring the Peoria County Board had asked all departments to cut their budgets by 11% because the pandemic had decimated income.  Full pay had been included in the 2020-21 budget, but Director Bride had forgotten to notify the County to return the Commissioners to full pay.  The Board voted to deviate from the statute for the first six months of this year rather than receive that pay retroactively. 
A Request for Proposal for new voting equipment will be sent out soon.  Proposals will come to the Commission office, and a committee will be formed to evaluate them.  The committee will consist of two Commissioners, staff, someone from IT, the attorney, and maybe a County Board member.  Someone from the local disability community will be asked to check accessibility.
Irene Pritzker, Observer

​   The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners held its monthly meeting on Tuesday, April 13, 2021.  All commissioners were present except for Dr. Pinto, who is out of town.
    According to Executive Director Tom Bride, the April 6 general election went relatively smoothly.  They were a little short of judges, having only 243 available that day.  A few judges had quit, and there were not as many student judges working as in the past.  One-third of voters cast their votes early, either at early voting locations or by mail, and two-thirds voted on election day.  Total turnout was 17 ½% of those eligible to vote.
   With the next election not occurring until March of 2022, it is time to discuss upcoming projects:

• These include the redrawing of precincts- In the past, new precinct lines were drawn after the city, county, etc. were done drawing their district lines.  Use of census data is required, but that will not be available until after the deadline for new lines.   
• the mailing of new voter registration cards, and
• a Request For  Proposal for a new voting system. Director Bride wants to wait until June 1, to send out an RFP for a new voting system in case there is some new legislation passed by the State.  There will still be plenty of time to make a decision.  The County purchasing department sends out RFP’s, and the commission receives the responses.  A group that includes the County IT department and the commission’s attorney will go over the replies.

   After setting the time and date of the next meeting and the official canvass of the April election, the commission went into executive session about specific employees. 
   Only one question arose during public comments.  Would the RFP be open to the public?  The answer was yes, and probably even presentations by vendors.
Irene Pritzker, Observer

   The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on March 11, with Dr. Arun Pinto absent and Marl Ketterer attending by phone. 
   The canvas for the primary election was to be signed later that day.  There was a 15.57% turnout for that election, with 40% voting early, either in person or by mail.  With a two vote difference in the election for Township Supervisor, there could be a discovery recount.  Frank Abdnour has five days from March 16, to ask for up to 25% of 88 precincts to be recounted.  If discovery shows a discrepancy, then his campaign can go to court.
   In the report of Director Tom Bride on the April 6 general election, he said that 71 ballots have been mailed to county residents and 2000 will need to be sent to city residents.  There are 306 different ballot styles in the County. 
   Staff will be setting up polling places on the Monday before the election, as they did during the primary.  This helped things go more smoothly on election day.  They have started seeing problems with the sixteen year old election machines. 
   Canvas will be held on April 21.
Irene Pritzker, Observer

   The Peoria County Election Commission met on February 9, 2021, with all members present except Mr. Ketterer who attended by phone. 
   Everything seems to be going smoothly in getting ready for both the February primary and the April general election. 
   The Verizon bill that had been wrongly coded leading to an enormous bill has been corrected.     
   Federal Warehouse was awarded the contract to move voting equipment to and from the polls for both elections.  They were approximately $500 less than Mordu and have done a good job in the past. 
   Locations and times for early voting before the April 6 election will be the same as for the November election starting March 12 outside of those locations that have a primary.  One exception will be no polling at the downtown library on Easter Sunday.  The Election Commission office will need to be open that day because of state law. 
   Ballots for the April 6 consolidated general election will be sent out starting February 25 to those voters outside of the City of Peoria.  There are 306 different ballot styles in the County!
   $19,430 of left over funds from the grant from the Center for Tech and Civic Life will be put into the FY2021 budget, with approval by the County Board.  The Center granted an extension for use of those funds until the end of July.  Director Bride anticipates that the funds will be used primarily for expenses related to Covid-19.
   There are approximately 73,000 registered voters in Peoria County.  As of February 9, 1950 had asked to vote by mail, 950 had voted early, and 772 had sent back their ballots.  The canvas for the primary will be held on March 11. 
Irene Pritzker, Observer

   The January 2021 meeting of the Peoria County Election Commission was held remotely and live streamed on Facebook.  All commissioners were in attendance. 
   The regular board meeting was preceded by an Electoral Board meeting.  Objections had been filed to the nominating papers of Abby Humbles for Dunlap School Board.  The petitions had been reviewed on January 8, and found to be in order.  Abby Humbles will be on the ballot.
   $90,000 of the $109,544 Center for Tech & Civic Life Grant has either been spent or is spoken for.  A report is due by the end of January, but funds can be spent until this summer. 
   Early voting has started for the February 23 primary election.  200 voters have already asked for ballots.  The only partisan election is the Democratic primary for Peoria township.
   Federal Warehouse was rewarded the contract for moving equipment for the general election April 6.   
   Early voting for that election will start in the election office on February 25 for those precincts outside of the city of Peoria.  Those city elections which are involved in the primary will not be ready until March 11 or 12.
 Irene Pritzker, Observer

  The December meeting of the Peoria County Election Commission was held on December 8, 2020, at the County Courthouse with all members present.  In discussing expenditures, Director Tom Bride said there is plenty of PPE left over for the spring elections. 

• Ballot Trax is paid by the sign-in.  10,300 voters signed up for it, with 32,000 sign-ins. 
• The bill from Verizon from last month that was too high is still being worked on. 
• Recoding for hotspots needs to be completed. 
• Of the $224,658 CARES Act, all but $21,000 has been paid out, and that amount has been spoken for. 
• Of the $85,7575 allowed by the Postage Grant, $62,000 goes back to the County IT department to pay for mailing applications and ballots. 
• The Center for Tech & Civic Life Grant has been used to pay for Ballot Trax, flags and stickers, training and related videos, some phone expenses, toner, and a shredder. 
• The $109,544 can now be used through July.  Director Bride wants to give hazard pay: $1500 to full time employees, $500 to part time employees, and $100 to judges.  That will leave $21,000 to be used in the spring elections.

 
Break down of the November 3 election: 72.56% total turnout with 35% vote by mail, 31% early voting, and 34% voting on election day.  The total number of voters was just under 85,000.  For the February 23 primary, the list of primary candidates should now be on the website, early and by mail voting begins on January 14.  Filing for school boards will be between December 14 and 21.  Some problems with on line requests for primary ballots is being worked on.  The office is planning on using Ballot Trax again.
 

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​  The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on Tuesday, November 10, 2020, with only Commissioner Burke absent.  Under Approval of Expenses: the only thing of note was a mistake on the Verizon bill.  They charged $67,000 instead of the $4000 that should have been charged.  It seems they wanted to be paid for increased use for the whole year instead of just the short period of additional use during the election.
   Peoria County received $246,000 from the CARES Act, and everything had to be reported by the coming Friday.  Director Bride said $56,000 still remains, but has probably already been spent.   The Postage Grant was for $87,575, but only about $60,000 has been used.  The CTCL grant has very few limitations on the use of $75,000, and Director Bride is hoping to use all of this.  He is considering hazard pay for election day judges, but wants to see what other jurisdictions are doing.
   The Election Office actually received four ballots that day, mostly from overseas, and they had 20-25 that were challenged.  The breakdown for how people voted went like this: approximately 39,000 vote by mail, 31,000 election day voting, and 29,000 early voting.  355 provisional ballots needed to be adjudicated before the November 17 certification date.  Vote totals surpassed the 2008 presidential election.  Over 10,000 voters signed up for Ballot Trax.   
  The current voting equipment will probably be fine for the spring elections, but it is obviously at the end of its useful life.. 
   Public comments included a complaint of more training needed on when to use provisional ballots.   There seemed to be one precinct in particular where this was an issue.
Irene Pritzker, Observer