State Board of Elections. Compliance Examination

              Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park Plaza, 740 E. Ash St., Springfield, IL 62703 • Tel: 217-782-6046 or TTY 888-261-2887
This Report Digest and a Full Report are also available on the internet at www.auditor.illinois.gov
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
COMPLIANCE ATTESTATION EXAMINATION
For the Two Years Ended: June 30, 2011
Summary of Findings:
Total this audit:
Total last audit:
Repeated from last audit:
4
5
1
Release Date: March 27, 2012
SYNOPSIS
• The State Board of Elections did not promulgate rules as required by the Election Code.
• The State Board of Elections did not comply with the Election Code regarding civil penalties for late filing of Statements of Organization.
{Expenditures and Activity Measures are summarized on the reverse page.}ii
EXPENDITURE STATISTICS
Total Expenditures..............................................
19,584,919$
15,107,083$
26,448,796$
OPERATIONS TOTAL........................................
9,642,965$
7,375,912$
9,412,587$
% of Total Expenditures......................................
49.2%
48.8%
35.6%
AWARDS AND GRANTS...................................
9,941,954$
7,731,171$
17,036,209$
% of Total Expenditures.......................................
50.8%
51.2%
64.4%
Total Receipts......................................................
9,005,575$
7,741,858$
3,822,479$
Average Number of Employees.........................
72
69
66
SELECTED ACTIVITY MEASURES (Not Examined)
2011
2010
2009
ELECTIONS DIVISION
Number of election judge schools requested...
221
101
104
Number of election jurisdiction submitting
voter registration database files.......................
110
110
110
Number of nomination petitions filed.............
94
978
101
Number of petition objections filed.................
0
237
5
Number of petition copy requests received.....
15
938
54
Number of election publications requested.....
1,980
4,000
4,700
CAMPAIGN FINANCING DIVISION
Number of organizations that qualify as party
organizations...................................................
369
696
658
Number of organizations that qualify as
political action committees..............................
1021
512
498
Number of outside complaints filed................
42
26
29
Number of raffle applications approved..........
779
427
768
Number of financial disclosure reports received…………………………………….
21,179
13,635
19,268
Number of report amendments filed……...….
2,601
1,301
1,476
Currently: Mr. Rupert Borgsmiller
During Examination Period: Mr. Daniel White (7/1/2009 to 12/31/2010) Mr. Rupert Borgsmiller (1/1/2011 to present)
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
COMPLIANCE EXAMINATION
For the Two Years Ended June 30, 2011
AGENCY DIRECTOR
2009
2010
2011iii
No rules developed for electronic reporting
Board agrees with the auditors
Board computed penalties incorrectly
Political committees were under- or over-fined due to the Board incorrectly computing days late
FINDINGS, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS
FAILURE TO PROMULGATE RULES
The State Board of Elections (Board) did not promulgate rules as required by the Election Code (Code). We noted the Board had not promulgated rules for electronic unit-by-unit vote total reporting. This portion of the Code became effective on November 9, 2007.
We recommended the Board continue to work towards full implementation of electronic unit-by-unit vote total reporting and adopt rules to govern the electronic reporting as required. (Finding 2, page 11)
Board officials concurred with the finding and stated the Board continues to work on design and development phase of the Electronic Canvassing system.
INACCURATE CALCULATION OF CIVIL PENALTIES
The Board did not comply with the Election Code regarding civil penalties for late filing of Statements of Organization (Form D-1). We noted the following deficiencies during our testing:
• The Board assessed the incorrect penalty amount for a Form D-1 that was due during Fiscal Year 2011. The Board computed the penalty due using the $25 per day amount that was in effect during Fiscal Year 2010, instead of the $50 per day amount that was in effect during Fiscal Year 2011. As a result, the political committee in this instance was fined $1,375 less than it should have been.
• The Board did not correctly compute the number of business days late that the Form D-1 was filed in all instances. We noted the Board incorrectly computed the number of business days late for the Form D-1 was filed in 3 of 7 (43%) instances tested, resulting in the political committees in these instances being under- or over-fined by $25 in each instance.
We recommended the Board establish procedures to ensure penalty amounts are calculated accurately prior to assessing the fines against political committees. (Finding 3, pages 12-13)iv
Board agrees with auditors
Board officials concurred with the finding and stated they will enhance procedures to ensure future penalties are calculated accurately prior to assessing fines.
OTHER FINDINGS
The remaining findings are reportedly being given attention by the Board. We will review the Board’s progress towards implementation of our recommendations in our next examination.
AUDITOR’S OPINION
We conducted a compliance examination of the State Board of Elections as required by the Illinois State Auditing Act. The State Board of Elections has no funds that require an audit leading to an opinion on financial statements.
___________________________________
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND
Auditor General
WGH:CMD:rt
AUDITORS ASSIGNED
The compliance examination was conducted by the Auditor General’s staff.