County clerk says voter-registration system replaced; petition filing starts Oct. 27

The Stephenson County Clerk updated the board Oct. 8 that the county changed its voter-registration vendor after the previous system announced a shutdown in Illinois; the county conducted an RFP in 2023 and selected the replacement system prior to the vendor phase-out.

The clerk said neighboring counties are already training on the new system and others are considering it; the county has not experienced problems related to the vendor change.

Petition filing for elections opens Oct. 27 and closes Nov. 3, the clerk reminded the board. The clerk also described ongoing legislative conversation about property-fraud alerts; no new statutory action from the county was announced.

As part of outreach, the clerk said her office will participate in a Senior Resource Center lifestyle expo in October to help residents register for property-fraud alerts and recruit election judges. The clerk's office has been seeing seniors come in for assistance and plans targeted outreach including a printed flyer for distribution at the center.

No formal action was requested; the clerk asked the board for continued support for outreach to seniors and to allow office staff to be reassigned as needed for election duties on Election Day.