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LaSalle County Clerk plans new voting equipment bid, weighs higher pay for election judges
Summary
The county clerk told the committee she will reissue a bid for a new elections system after a single, high bid; the clerk also presented cost scenarios for raising election judge pay and outlined poll-book planning and early-voting trends.
LaSalle County's Clerk reported on April 15 that a vendor's single bid for a new election system was unhelpfully high and that she will reissue the solicitation and contact known vendors to encourage competition.
The clerk said the one bid received included a first-year conversion and training price the clerk could not justify without a comparator. "For the first year it would have been $183,000 I believe, that includes conversion and training and things like that," the county clerk said. She told the committee she will resubmit the bid within about a week and will notify state-listed vendors so they can submit competitive proposals. She said she still hoped to convert in June if a new contract can be secured on a reasonable timeline.
The clerk also presented a range of possible base pay rates for election judges and the fiscal impact of each. She calculated budget scenarios for a base pay of $2.25, $2.50 and $3.00 per hour for the pool of up to 595 possible judges across 19 precincts (the clerk said she budgets for the maximum 595 judges even though typical turnout yields fewer). The packet showed prior election judge counts: 357 judges in the 2023 consolidated election, 373 in March 2024, 469 in the November 2024 presidential election and 369 in the most recent April 2025 election. The clerk said the office will continue to track geographies where extra touchscreen/ADA machines are needed and intends to review poll-book bids and hands-on training requirements later this year.
She told the committee the office has been documenting touchscreen usage trends and will publish election reports to the county website; as of the meeting the office had finished tabulating ballots that were postmarked by election day and expected official reports to be online the following day.
There were no final votes on equipment procurement at the meeting; the clerk's stated actions were to reissue the solicitation, contact vendors to ensure fair competition and return updated results at the next meeting.
