Peoria County Election Commission Observer Report

The monthly meeting of the Peoria County Election Commission was held with all commissioners present except for Sandra Burke.  The public comment portion included several people concerned about voter fraud and unfulfilled FOIA requests.  Also, the NAACP spoke in favor of keeping prepaid vote by mail envelopes.
Delivery of election equipment for both the primary and general elections will be done by Federal Warehouse.  They have done it well in the past and were the only bid this year.  The cost will be $14,100, up $3000 for the June election because it is their busy season for moving.
The Commission voted to use the 30,000 preprinted vote by mail envelopes already in house for the two 2022 elections, then remove the mailing permit in future elections.  The motion passed 3 to 1 with Commissioner Bartolo voting “no.” 
1850 vote-by-mail ballots had been sent out by the time of the meeting, with two-thirds already returned.  Director Tom Bride thinks early voting will surpass totals from 2018.  Unfortunately, the two new drop boxes will not be installed in time for the June 28 primary due to issues with an intergovernmental agreement.  They should be available for the general election in November.  The Commission is still short of judges, especially Republican judges.  One reason is the lack of student judges at this time. 
The federal government’s security grant money was used to build a window overlooking the tabulation room and to purchase cameras and fire suppressant for the drop boxes.
 
Irene Pritzker, Observer