Ensure the Safety and Security of Election Processes in DuPage County: Advocate for an Adequate Election Division Budget

Ensure the Safety and Security of Election Processes in DuPage County: Advocate for an Adequate Election Division Budget

Location

DuPage County ,
Time Range For Action Alert: 
September 15, 2019 to September 24, 2019
September 6, 2019
RE: DuPage Budget for Election Services
 
ACTION NEEDED
Contact your DuPage County Board representatives before September 24, 2019, and ask them to: 
  1. Support the full fiscal 2020 budget request of the DuPage County Clerk. 
  2. Support the purchase in fiscal year 2019 of new e-poll books.
WHY IT MATTERS
  1. The DuPage County Election Commission was merged with the Clerk’s office earlier this year. After a review of the procedures and equipment required to properly run elections on par with neighboring counties, including Kane and Will, the Clerk’s budget request is $7.8 million for fiscal year 2020. This request is a significant increase over the past election cycles due to out of date voting equipment which needs to be replaced, and lack of sufficient staff to run polling sites. The budget includes much needed increase in pay for Election Judges to attract more people to train for the position. Election judges in DuPage have not received an increase in pay in approximately 10 years. Ensuring the polls are properly equipped and fully staffed, especially in light of the predictions of record turnouts in 2020, is crucial to making the voting process efficient and effective.  

  2. The Clerk stated at her budget proposal presentation: “We must have new e-pollbooks to accommodate the high volume of voters. Traditional paper application poll books printed one month prior to Election Day do not meet the needs of the modern election developments which include Same Day Voter Registration, On-Line Registration, Automatic Voter Registration, Grace Period Registration and Vote by Mail - all of which require last-minute updates. An e-pollbook keeps track of a voter's status and allows election judges to react instantly to the needs of the voter.  An e-poll book would eliminate further handling of paper applications-a process which can take weeks to complete.”  

DuPage County Voters supported the Consolidation of the Clerk and Election Commission.  Now it is essential that the consolidation live up to the LWV consolidation position and ensure voter access, and the quality of election services.  
 
LWVIL Position on Consolidation of Governmental Units and Sharing of Major Governmental Services outlines criteria on “whether to support a consolidation/ shared services proposal as a way of making government more efficient and effective,” including:
 
  • “Will the proposal either result in an increased quality and/or efficiency of services or, at a minimum, maintain services at existing levels;
  • Will the proposal fairly address disparities in employee contracts; 
  • Will the proposal result in increased social and economic justice;

LWVIL Position on State Election Laws, Registration, and Elections: “The League of Women Voters supports uniformity of election laws and procedures throughout the state. Registration and voting methods should ensure the integrity of the election system, maximize voters' unencumbered access to the ballot, preserve the secrecy of the ballot and ensure accurate and timely vote tabulation.” 
 
To determine in which DuPage County Board District you live, see: https://www.dupageco.org/CountyBoard/District_Map/2517/
For Contact information for ALL 3 of your District’s Commissioners:
 
SAMPLE CALL SCRIPTS
  1. Hi! My name is _______ .

    I'm a DuPage County District ____resident. As a member of the League of Women Voters. I support the merger of the Election Commission with the County Clerk’s office, however. I am concerned that appropriate resources were not allocated to the Election Commission before the merger. Now more than ever, we need to bolster the election process to ensure secure and efficient elections. Please support the purchase of new e-pollbooks and the full 2020 budget request submitted by the Clerk to bring DuPage County’s election equipment up to standards.  

2. Hi! My name is _______ .

I'm a DuPage County District ____resident and a certified Judge of Election. My experience from the last few elections has me concerned about the upcoming elections. [Insert your own examples of issues experienced: eg. Our polling place has been short judges each time. The e-poll books did not always show the registered voters’ signatures in this last election. One of the two e-poll books allocated did not start up properly so we had to wait for a technician to come to the polling place to address this, meanwhile a long line formed.]

Please support the purchase of new e-pollbooks and the full 2020 budget request submitted by the Clerk to bring DuPage County’s election equipment up to standards. 
Issues referenced by this action alert: