Aurora Mayor Calls For Elimination of Aurora Election Commission

AURORA, IL - Aurora May Tom Weisner is calling on city residents to join together to place a referendum on the November ballot that would seek abolishing the Aurora Election Commission due to the commission's track record of mismanagement and its inability to efficiently post primary election results last week online.

The results, Weisner said in a statement last week, were not posted on the election commission's website at www.auroravotes.org until 9 a.m. on Wednesday -- almost 14 hours after polls closed, according to a press release from the city of Aurora. He also said the website listed in its current results section candidates and results from the April 7, 2015, election.

"The Aurora Election Commission's abysmal failure Tuesday night to properly provide online the election results from within its jurisdiction to the public is but the most recent example of the general incompetence of the Commission Board, as well as the staff and the Board attorney, who are collectively and individually wasting local tax dollars," Weisner said.

Aurora residents and at least one media outlet complained to the city about the issues surrounding the reporting of primary election results.

The Aurora Election Commission is responsible for election operations within the city limits of Aurora, according to the commission's website. The commission was established by a vote of the citizens of Aurora "in order to provide an accurate and unbiased election as well as maintain an accurate and up to date list of registered voters," according to the commission's website. The commission is an independent body and the commissioners are appointed by the Chief Judge of the 16th Circuit Court and serve a three-year term.

Following the snafus from last week's primary election, Weisner is now calling on residents to join together to place a citywide referendum on the November ballot to abolish the Election Commission. Aurora's City Council voted to place a referendum on the ballot in 2010, but the Election Commission refused to do so, arguing that the issue could be placed on the ballot only through voter petitions, according to the news release.

Computer technology and high speed communication make the election commission "obsolete and redundant," Weisner said in a statement last week.

"A satellite Aurora office of the Kane County Clerk could provide more efficient election services to our city," Weisner said. "That same satellite office could also provide marriage licenses, passports, birth and death certificates, all at a cost less than Aurora taxpayers are forced to pay to the Commission currently."

"The Aurora Election Commission is a 'one trick pony' - and a lame one at that," Weisner added.

Weisner explained that in the current situation, Kane County residents of Aurora are supporting the Aurora Election Commission through taxes paid to both Kane County and to the City; DuPage County residents of Aurora receive all their election services from the DuPage County Election Commission and Will and Kendall County residents of Aurora receive service from the Aurora Election Commission despite the fact that their counties make no contribution to cover its operating costs, according to the news release.

"In one way or another the [Aurora] Election Commission is a bad deal for everybody," Weisner said.

The city's press release went on to point out past mismanagement by the Aurora Election Commission:

This is not the first time the Aurora Election Commission has failed its residents. In addition to these most recent missteps, the Aurora Election Commission has built a substantial track record of mismanagement:

In violation of State Law and local agreements, the Commission has failed to perform regular audits to account for the half million dollars or more in taxpayer funds they receive from the County and the City each year. The last audit known to have been accomplished was for the 2013 calendar year.

In 2013, it was discovered that the Election Commission had stockpiled $400,000 in unearned revenue in its bank account, while at the same time declaring it did not have sufficient funds to perform required statutory duties.

Over the past three years, the Aurora Election Commission has paid approximately $25,000 to family members of both the Executive Director and attorney representing the Election Commission.

Earlier this year, the Executive Director failed to contact the City to arrange in advance for the use of the Stover Visitor Center at Phillips Park (which is normally closed for the winter) as an Early Voting Polling Location. As a result, there was a delay in the availability of early voting for Aurora voters at that location.

The Executive Director has consistently failed to provide agenda-supporting documents for Commission Board meetings in a timely fashion to the City, as required by the Memorandum of Agreement with Kane County and the City.

The Aurora Election Commission, which was created by referendum in 1934, consists of three Board members who according to State Law, must be appointed by Kane County's Chief Judge. Current board members are Lillian Perry, an employee of State Representative Linda Chapa LaVia's Aurora office; Mike McCoy, former Kane County Executive and Leah Anderson, the widow of former long-term Board Member Rich Bond, appointed to the post following Mr. Bond's passing.