DuPage County Proposes Merging Election Commission, Clerk's Office: Everything You Need to Know

There has been a rumor buzzing since last spring that DuPage County is considering merging the separate entities of its Election Commission and County Clerk’s Office, and next Tuesday, the community will be able to view the officially proposed merger document online.

The morning of Dec. 13, DuPage County Board Commissioner Dan Cronin, County Clerk Paul Hinds and DuPage Election Commission Chairwoman Cathy Ficker Terrill will discuss the proposed merger, which will be made public on DuPage County’s website at 10:30 a.m. the same morning.

It’s been awhile since the merger has been in the news, so we broke down the basics for you to refresh your memory.

Why is a merger being proposed?

For a couple of reasons. First, merging these two offices would likely save money. Since the Election Commission has been a separate entity for decades now (it was first established by state law in 1974), the government wants to maintain its individuality and independence by placing the public board underneath the umbrella of the clerk’s office. That way, day-to-day operations wouldn’t cost the county extra cash.

It would also be an area where the government could cut unnecessary county organizations. Like My Suburban Life reported, “Consolidating the two entities has been the subject of many political stump speeches over the last several years and a popular place for many to point to as the next step in the county’s ongoing efforts to streamline and eliminate unnecessary government bodies.” It’s one of Cronin’s focuses under his Accountability, Consolidation and Transparency (ACT) initiative, which has already dissolved several official bodies. He said at an April town hall meeting that merging the clerk’s office and Election Commission was a natural progression of what he was already doing.

What are the individual entities responsible for right now?

The role of the Election Commission, which is an independent, bi-partisan government body, is to organize, execute and document all elections in DuPage County. It works under state and federal laws to promote educated voting, make elections run smoothly, ease voter registration and improve election procedures.

The County Clerk’s Office is responsible for a whole lot of record-keeping, including issuing marriage, civil union, liquor, business and tobacco licenses, issuing birth and death certificates and recording and filing economic interest statements for all DuPage County officials. The clerk’s office also plays a huge role in taxpaying and recording tax data.

Would a merger change the voting process/how election results are delivered?

Hinds told the Naperville Sun in July that he’d be open to changing the way election results are reported to the public, noting that technology has changed quickly to make the process easier.

"I've looked at that and wondered, ‘Why aren't we doing this now?’" Hinds told the Sun. "I've always been a big proponent of using technology to streamline everything, and we've been doing that here in the clerk's office already. It's certainly something I'm open to and would encourage."

Will it cost anything?

It shouldn’t. Since one of the main reasons for the merger is saving money, it should slash costs rather than raising any fees for taxpayers.

Will people lose their jobs?

County officials have told the Naperville Sun that it’s too soon to tell. Hopefully, we’ll get more of a grasp on this after the merger proposal is made public next week. The Election Commission employs 24 people as of last summer; the clerk’s office employs 18.

"We're not at that point yet," Hinds told the Sun in July. "The Election Commission was split off in 1974. Now that we're looking at going back to the way it was previously, we'd be doing an assessment of what each employee does, whether there are any duplicate functions or jobs that could be combined, and where do we go from there."

Do residents get a say?

A public hearing for the merger will be held Jan. 10, 2017 in the DuPage County Board Room following the regular board meeting.

If the merger goes through, when will it be implemented?

Probably not for a little while. Officials have said that if the merger were to work, a state law would likely have to be changed first.

Have any questions that we weren't able to answer? Let us know in the comments, and we'll do some digging for you.

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