The DuPage County Board approved an additional appropriation of $665,000 to DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek’s office as key dates in the upcoming November election approach.
The board held a nearly two-hour, tense-at-times special call meeting Tuesday, Sept. 1, to discuss the added funding. Kaczmarek was not present at the meeting, but a member of her staff, Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson, was present and had a number of exchanges with board members.
Last week, County Board Chair Deborah Conroy said she wanted to hold the special call meeting in a move she described as being “proactive” in providing additional funds for the election. Kaczmarek last month issued a statement and indicated her office did not have the necessary funds to carry out the election.
According to the clerk’s website, early voting in DuPage County for this fall’s general election is tentatively expected to begin Thursday, Sept. 24, at five temporary locations. The Naperville Municipal Center, 400 S. Eagle St., is among the venues. Vote by mail begins 40 days before the election.
Conroy explains rationale behind additional funding
Conroy’s proposal, which the board backed at the special call meeting, included funding of $225,000 for printing expenses and $440,000 for postage in relation to the upcoming election.
“These numbers were developed using actual expenses from 2022, 2024, and the rate of spending in 2026,” Conroy said.
Analyses from county officials indicate the clerk’s office, year to date, has spent nearly all of its allocated postage budget within the election division — 99.8% — and nearly three-quarters — 74% — of its printing budget.
Conroy added the funding allocations factored in other expenses within the election division, including compensation to election judges and fees associated with renting polling locations.
“We take our responsibilities to the voters of DuPage County very seriously,” Conroy said. “Let’s approve the additional appropriation, and we will be supporting the services the residents expect and deserve in our 2026 general election.”
Johnson and board have pointed exchanges at meeting
During the single-agenda item special call meeting, multiple board members questioned Johnson about the budget. He also gave the clerk’s office’s general stance on budgeting approaches within the department.
Echoing comments Kaczmarek made last year, Johnson said the clerk’s office gave warnings that final figures in the county’s adopted 2026 fiscal year budget were inadequate to fund this year’s elections.
“When we presented the appropriation request, we itemized the expenses that we anticipated spending, to run the election in the coming year,” Johnson said. “Those have been posted on the county clerk’s website for well over a year now.”
Johnson added, “This board received guidance from the Illinois Attorney General’s office that stated the board was limited to appropriating the clerk’s office lump sums of expenditures.”
Following the statement, Conroy interjected, stating to Johnson, “Excuse me. I am the chair. You’re off topic now.”
Several board members, including District 3 board member Kari Galassi, expressed frustration with the way the clerk’s office has handled budgeting-related data.
“There’s been so much back and forth from you about why you refuse to do the budget the way we asked,” Galassi said to Johnson. “You did not submit the budget numbers the way we asked, so we were simply using the only information that we had.”
At one point in the meeting, Johnson also stated the clerk’s office would need about $1.2 million to carry out all elections-related functions this fall.
“You want $1.2 million in a blank check?” Conroy said, in response to Johnson’s statement. “That will never happen.”
Johnson said there are no guarantees on added funding
State laws give clerk’s offices a level of autonomy on internal operations. While the board approves funding allocations, the office is not mandated to use it for a granular purpose, such as postage or printing.
At the special call meeting, representatives within the state’s attorney’s office indicated the combined $665,000 in funding can be applied toward a “commodities” category within the department budget, but the clerk’s office is not legally bound to apply the infusion of funds directly toward postage and printing costs related to the election.
“That is not guaranteed, because there are other needs as well,” Johnson said of election-related printing and postage when asked to give his take on the funding and how it will be applied.
When asked further questions from the board, Johnson clarified there are other election-related expenses that remain underfunded.
“The line item for election judges is not enough to fully staff the planned number of polling places for the number of voters that we anticipate for the general election,” Johnson said. “It is not enough money to fully staff the number of early voting places.”
While Johnson would not guarantee the added dollars would be applied directly toward printing and postage, multiple board members said they wanted to move forward with the appropriation.
“I think it’s very, very important that we concentrate on getting the vote-by-mails out,” District 2 board member Paula Deacon Garcia said. “I am going to hold my nose, I am going to vote for this, because I feel like we have to assume the clerk will get the vote-by-mails out, and right now, the postage is not there.”
Deacon Garcia, who defeated Kaczmarek in the March Democratic primary, is running against Republican Patricia Kladis-Schiappa for county clerk this November.
Stay in the know – sign up for our daily news update!
