Ming-Mendoza responds to Prenzler inquiry
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By Randy Pierce
Previous Madison County Clerk Debbie Ming-Mendoza and a deputy clerk still working in the office the former held until defeated in last November’s general election have provided answers to an inquiry from the county board chairman concerning their involvement with trades unions balloting practices.
Last week, County Board Chairman Kurt Prenzler announced that he has asked the county state’s attorney’s office to look into payments received by Ming-Mendoza’s department for election services offered to three different union locals from late 2021 through mid-July of the following year.
Prenzler additionally turned to the Illinois State Board of Elections for an investigation into this matter and submitted a Freedom of Information Act request for related details to the county auditor.
What was produced at the county level in answer to Prenzler’s request were documents that he says, “raise many questions,” adding, “but the first step in the process is to alert the public.”
Ming-Mendoza’s office, according to invoices and copies of checks shared with Prenzler, received checks in amounts of $105, $140 and $78 on three separate occasions within the time frame referred to herein from, respectively, Plumbers and PipeFitters Local 553 of East Alton, International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local Union 649 of Alton and Carpenters Local 664 of Wood River.
Those payments were for union election programming and ballots in all three instances plus test decks for the plumbers and pipefitters, absentee envelopes for the IBEW and test ballots for the carpenters.
In his request for the materials he received, Prenzler sought documentation of how the county clerk’s office had allowed “non-governmental organizations to use county equipment, including voting machines, copy machines or tabulators” from the past 10 years plus the related accounting details.
Vanessa Jones, the chief deputy clerk for the county, stated this type of occurrence has been going on for several decades, back as far as when the late Evelyn Bowles served as clerk from 1974 to 1994, as a service to the trades unions which conduct elections with their members casting votes periodically.
There has never been any charging of employee time to the unions which have found this process works well for them, Jones added, concerning the clerical activities or delivery and return of the voting machines.
All pertinent individuals in the office of the county clerk have always been aware of this happening, Jones noted, and it has never been hidden from the audit process which takes place every April under the auspices of the Scheffel Boyle firm which specializes in providing this service to government units.
Authorization from the county board has not been necessary, Jones said, because of this being perceived as a function of the clerk’s office. All payments received for the assistance provided for union elections go directly into the county general fund, according to Jones who also has duties related to the county’s recorder of deeds position.
There are schools in the county which have also been given opportunities to use the voting machines and ballots for the purpose of conducting mock elections as part of the education programs they have, Jones explained.
Ming-Mendoza, running as a Democrat, who resides in Granite City, was the incumbent county clerk when she sought reelection to a third four-year term in November 2022 but was defeated by Republican Linda Andreas of Maryville.
“There is nothing nefarious about any of this,” Ming-Mendoza said in reference to the public disclosure that Prenzler had asked for the aforementioned information.
Ming-Mendoza added that allowing the use of the voting equipment by the unions was helpful in making sure it worked properly while also giving her the opportunity to build public confidence in their capability and provide education about the election process, supplemented by, as mentioned by Jones, authorizing various schools to use the machines, ballots and other materials.
One aspect of significance in this practice, Ming-Mendoza referred to concerns how it allows for a determination that the voting machines are functioning correctly in a way that does not carry with it the same level of importance as a major election.
“I don’t understand why I would not want to provide this service,” Ming-Mendoza commented, explaining that the situations referred to by Prenzler usually involved only 150 to 200 ballots and that the payments received and made available for other county expenses were “not an astronomical amount.”
