Decades old discussion about election office merger resurfaces in Rockford

By Kevin Haas
Rock River Current
Get our mobile app

ROCKFORD — A decades old discussion about consolidating the city and county elections offices is resurfacing this year, with Winnebago County Board members weighing whether to again put the question before voters.

Voters were last asked in November 2018 whether they favored consolidation, and 69% of more than 89,000 voters said yes to the non-binding question. But plans to sort out the details of how consolidation would work never progressed far after the election.

More news: New owner of old Rever’s Marina in Rockford envisions lofts, offices and dockside dining

Now, Winnebago County Board member John Guevara is ready to revisit the issue, but he said the board needs to start with asking voters whether they want the merger to be explored. The referendum would not be binding, but would be used as a signal to what voters want to see happen.

“The motivations are: We want to find out what the public thinks. That’s it. There’s no policy suggestion because we don’t know if something that the public wants,” he said. “I wouldn’t want to devote staff time or tax dollars to trying to uncover or study these questions until at least we know what the voters want.”

The Winnebago County Board’s Operations & Administrative Committee is expected to discuss a potential referendum next week. It was on the agenda for this past Thursday, but the meeting was canceled.

The would-be question posed is: “Shall the city of Rockford Board of Elections be consolidated with the election department of the Winnebago County Clerk to save taxpayer dollars.”

Similar wording has been criticized as leading in years past because it’s unclear if and how much taxpayer money could be saved. Guevara suggested changing the word to say that consolidation should move forward “if” it saves taxpayer dollars.

“We don’t want to do anything if it doesn’t save money,” Guevara said. “It kind of boxes out any other rational that has to do with election integrity or whatever — we’re focused on being the most efficient entity to conduct fair and free elections.”

Elections in Winnebago County outside of the city of Rockford are run by the County Clerk’s office. The county’s election department has a team of three full-time employees and is overseen by an elected county clerk. The Rockford Board of Elections, which is run by a bipartisan commission appointed by a Circuit Court judge, has five full-time employees. The Rockford commission was established in 1910 by a referendum vote.

“Especially during these times it’s really critical that our residents have a high level of confidence in the electoral process,” Mayor Tom McNamara said. “I believe the commission model where you have Democrats and Republicans appointed by a judge is the way to go as opposed to providing authority to a partisan office.”

McNamara said he’s open to discussions about a countywide commission, something the League of Women Voters has studied and found favor in, so long as its modeled after the Rockford board with a nonpartisan commission.

“We at the city are always willing to have conversations about what we can do to consolidate and make services better for citizens,” he said. “The League of Women Voters has done a lot of study and work regarding this very item. We know that having a commission model is the most cost effective for Rockford residents, would continue the same level of integrity that exists for Rockford residents.”

Discussions about consolidation have come and gone for at least three decades, according to newspaper archives. The League of Women Voters has explored it in years past with studies in 1998 and 2013.

The League of Women Voters’ study concluded in 2013 without a determination on the financial benefits. In both years, the League said it supported consolidation into a countywide, nonpartisan commission.

Guevara said it’s worth revisiting since there have been changes to election law since that study and the last referendum. Those changes include expanded early voting and state legislation signed in 2021 that increased access to curbside voting and established permanent vote by mail registries, among other changes designed to provide more avenues to vote.

Guevara said the board has to consider whether now is the right time for the referendum with other ballot questions and races competing for the public’s attention.

If voters want to see consolidation talks move forward, then the board has to explore what the best methods are for consolidation and which of those routes voters want, Guevara said.

“None of this is designed to have a conversation about a government action that’s going to happen in the next six, 12 or 18 months,” Guevara said. “From a legislative standpoint, sometimes you have to keep having a conversation to see if there’s even any room.”

The board has until Aug. 19 to submit a referendum for the ballot, according to the state’s election calendar.

This article is by Kevin Haas. Email him at khaas@rockrivercurrent.com or follow him on X at @KevinMHaas or Instagram @thekevinhaas and Threads @thekevinhaas