KaneDems

Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved a massive expansion in voting by mail which requires that vote-by-mail applications be sent to every voter who voted through the mail for any election since 2018. It even directs reminders to be sent in the fall and authorizes the Illinois State Board of Elections to publicize and ease the process. In Kane County, ballots will not be sent out until September 24th.

Ballots need not be mailed but could be placed in drop-boxes outside local election authorities. The last day a ballot can be mailed to you in Kane County is 5 days prior to the election. Election Day this year falls on Nov. 3.

Anyone who is not registered to vote can do so online up to 16 days before the election, or in person at several locations like government offices and public libraries up to 27 days before the election. After that timeframe passes, voters will have to register in person using grace period registration and be prepared to cast their ballots at the same time.

The following email was sent to all of our elected PCs. If you believe you should have received this communication but did not, please contact us at info@kanedems.org.

Hello newly elected Precinct Committeeperson (PC), Congratulations!

After the ballot has been certified, your first job will be to elect the Chair and Executive Board members of the Kane County Democrats at the County Convention on April 15.  This is a weighted vote based on the number of Democratic ballots pulled in your precinct.  We will have the weighted number once the ballot is certified on March 30, 2020.  The scheduled County Convention is a set date required by Illinois state law.  Although we have done so in all past elections, the KCD by-laws do not necessarily require in person voting by the elected PCs at the County Convention.

The challenge this year is hosting our convention and complying with the recent rulings regarding gatherings – and the Governor’s orders to shelter in place because of the Covid-19 pandemic. In conversations with the Governor’s office, the Democratic Party of Illinois, and the Illinois Democratic County Chairs’ Association (IDCCA), it is clear we will be on our own with how to handle the conflict.

Your health and safety is paramount.  Therefore, we have cancelled the April 15th meeting that would have been held to elect our officers; however, we are still required to hold the County Convention on this date.  We can still conduct an election if we do so with proxy votes – meaning PCs do not need to be present to vote, but rather can mail-in, scan, or email their weighted vote.  I have worked with our current Executive Board toward a reasonable solution in these unprecedented times.  All those who have been elected as Democratic PCs in the March 17, 2020 primary, including winning write-ins, have been included in this email.  I have used the primary emails provided either to the County Clerk when turning in your petitions, or if no email had been provided, the primary email given to the current secretary of the Kane County Democrats.

If the situation presents itself that there is more than one nominee, I want to provide every PC a chance to safely vote – as well as to allow those interested in running for the KCD Executive Board an opportunity to do so.  According to our bylaws, “All active members of the Organization may run for office, and all active elected members shall have the right to nominate others for all offices. Each person voting shall be entitled to one vote for each Democratic ballot cast in their precinct in the Primary election. All precinct Committeepersons are eligible to vote in the initial election of officers after each Primary election.”

The KCD bylaws mandates that you must be an elected PC in order to hold an office on the Executive Board.  Since all appointed PC’s terms end on the date of the Illinois primary, only PCs elected on March 17th can vote for officers at the County Convention. Furthermore, the only two offices the state has an interest in – and reporting requirement for – are the Chair and the Treasurer. Therefore, in order to ensure efficiency and accuracy of vote tallies and to comply with the governor’s directive regarding meetings, all the other elected offices will be voted on when we all can meet again.  For now, all other Executive Board officers and township chair positions will remain as is until elected PC’s can vote in person at our next regular meeting which is unfortunately TBA in the midst of the crisis.  And finally, (after all that) if there is only one nominee, whoever is nominated would win the office by proclamation and no election would be necessary.

If in the event a contest develops and the need arises, I encourage you to plan for a proxy vote for the positions of Chair and Treasurer on April 15th.  If there’s an election, your proxy vote will need to be reported to our election manager by April 15, 2020 in order to be in compliance with state law.  We will then vote for all other positions on the Executive Board at a later date once the pandemic has run its course and we can hold a meeting again.

If you are interested in running for Chair or Treasurer please respond to the County Convention Election Manager, Nico Jimenez at: nicojimenez1@gmail.com. If you would prefer to send a letter or call Mr. Jimenez, please let us know.

You have until March 30th to respond to our election manager if you’re interested in running for Chair or Treasurer. 

Thank you for your understanding in this difficult time.  If there is a contested election, the names will be emailed to you with your weighted vote totals. Please let us know if you have any questions.

Thank you,

Mark Guethle
Chair Kane County Democrats