Conroy Leading Effort to Consolidate DuPage County Election Commission

VILLA PARK, Ill. – Legislation introduced by state Rep. Deb Conroy, D-Villa Park, allowing DuPage County to consolidate the functions of the county election commission into the office of the county clerk advanced unanimously out of House recently.

“House Bill 5123 is a step in the right direction in ensuring that our elections will be managed with the utmost integrity,” said Conroy. “This allows DuPage County, which is one of only two counties in the entire state with a separate board of election commissioners, to finally transfer the functions of the election commission to the county clerk. This change will bring more transparency and efficiency to the way elections are held in DuPage County.”

House Bill 5123 allows the county board to dissolve the functions of the election commission into the county clerk’s office. Currently, only two counties and seven municipalities in Illinois have election authorities independent of the county clerk. In every other Illinois county, election-related functions are executed by the county clerk. The bill and is supported by DuPage County, County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, and the Better Government Association.

“We are pleased with the bi-partisan support this measure has received and are grateful for Representative Conroy’s leadership.  Our goal is to create an efficient, effective system for administering elections in DuPage County,” said DuPage County Board Chairman Dan Cronin, who traveled to Springfield to testify on behalf of the legislation. “We believe dissolving the DuPage Election Commission and folding those duties into the County Clerk’s office will result in improved voter services.  We are eager to see this bill passed by the full Senate and to see the Governor sign it as soon as possible.”