Peoria County Election Commission Observer Report

The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on Tuesday January 8, with Commissioner Burke absent.     During the discussion of bills, it was learned that the many miscellaneous charges listed would finish paying all expenses from the November election. 
   Early voting for the primary election on February 26, will only be held in two locations: the election office and the downtown library.  The only race on the ballot will be for Peoria City Council.  Early voting will begin on January 17, and run until February 25.  State statute requires that the election office be open for voting during that whole period.  The downtown library will only be open Thursday through Saturday, February 21-23.  The Federal Companies was the low bidder for delivering the equipment to polling places.

   In his report, Director Tom Bride said that he had already received requests for three overseas ballots and 15 to 20 mail-in ballots.  He would be starting work very soon on the general election ballot because it will be much more complicated.  There will also be races for school districts, park districts, a fire district, and villages.  The new pollbooks should be arriving soon, so training will begin, first for office staff, then for judges.
   Commissioners Ketterer and Reed presented their report on perceived issues from the November election and how to improve logistics for future elections.  The first issue was a backup of cars at the doors to drop off election results.  They recommended not allowing parking in the lot, having five or six cars unloaded at once, and using auxiliary police to manage the traffic flow.  Limestone ROTC could also supply workers to help with the unloading.  There should also be three tables with six workers for check-in.  These could also be Limestone ROTC members.  A second issue was that the web page seemed not to be working.  That has already been discussed with the County IT personnel.  Finally, only workers and designated observers should be allowed in the tabulation area.  Commissioners would be responsible for removing people who do not belong.
​Irene Pritzker, Observer