CHICAGO — Chicago alderpersons sharply criticized Board of Elections officials during a budget hearing at City Hall Monday.
The Board of Elections attributed Election Day ballot shortages in several parts of the city to a computer glitch. The I-Team found that 24 of Chicago’s more than 1,200 precincts were affected — roughly 2% of all precincts.
Ald. Bill Conway of the 34th Ward asked Board of Elections Executive Director Sandra Aspera whether she believed the agency performed well during last Tuesday’s election.
“I actually feel our staff did a really good job. It was the ballot error, the coding error — a big confusion, not a confusion. It created a lot of media attention, and then everyone assumed it was because of the ballot error. No, there were many reasons why we had long lines,” Aspera said.
Conway challenged that assessment, saying, “I think the people of the City of Chicago would disagree with that, as would many people in this chamber.”
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“To have precincts — tons of precincts — not have enough ballots, to send people away to another site, to have people sitting for hours waiting on ballots, it’s egregious,” said Ald. Michelle Harris of the 8th Ward, chairperson of the Committee on Committees and Rules.
Aspera was appointed executive director of the Chicago Board of Elections about a year and a half ago. She has worked for the agency for three decades.
The Chicago Board of Elections is seeking nearly $48 million in funding for next year’s budget.
Several alderpersons told Aspera the board should have conducted more outreach before the election so voters and poll workers would have a clearer understanding of whom to contact when problems emerged. Chicago’s municipal election is scheduled for February.
