Peoria County Election Commission Observer Reports

​The Peoria County Board of Election Commissioners met on Tuesday, November 13, 2018, with commissioner LaColis Reed absent.
  While going over the month's bills, Director Tom Bride asked for permission to spend up to $70,000 to pay for election judges. He might not need that much, but he wanted to be sure to have enough to cover all the judges, including early voting, election day, troubleshooting, and check-in judges, and their mileage. That was approved.
  A budget amendment was also approved to align it with the County's budget. The Election Commission budget was reduced by $20,000, but because of the uncertainty of costs involved with the move and the November election when the Commission budget was first approved, the lower figure was easily met.
  The Brandywine building will have the moveable wall installed on November 15, except for the panel including the door. Everything should be unpacked and stored in the very near future.
  The canvas of the November 6 election will be held on November 21. Fourteen ballots from out of state and out of country were received the day of the meeting, and some challenged ballots were still to be determined. A few minor glitches occurred during voting due to split precincts. Some people in a few precincts were to vote on the Park District referendum, and some were not. It was explained in great detail how these glitches were handled, and that no votes were missed or counted when they should not have been. Procedures have been put in place to assure that these problems will not arise in the future.
  The Commission's attorney said that the owner of the Brandywine building has threatened to sue over real estate taxes for the building. This should not be a problem because there is nothing is the lease saying that Peoria County must pay a share of the taxes.
  A new subcommittee has been formed to study the November 6 election, to determine what worked, what did not work, and find ways to implement efficiencies for the next election.
​Irene Pritzker, Observer