Peoria County Election Commission Observer Report

​   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