Jean Kaczmarek: 2022 candidate for DuPage County Clerk

Bio

Party: Democratic

Office sought: DuPage County Clerk

City: Glen Ellyn

Age: 65

Occupation: DuPage County Clerk

Previous offices held: DuPage County Clerk, 2018-22

Q&A

Q: Why are you running for this office? Is there a particular issue that motivates you?

A: The only office I’ve ever run for is DuPage County Clerk.

The reason I’m running now is the same reason I ran in 2018 – my passion for an accurate, secure, open, fair and accessible electoral process.

Nearly 18 years ago, long before anyone else was even talking about election integrity, I was engaged as a watchdog, scrutinizing every detail of voting. I never saw myself running for public office until returning elections to the clerk’s office became a real possibility.

True leadership shows itself in moments of crisis. My office has been put to the test in these turbulent times. We’ve faced cybersecurity threats and complex system changes to pave the way for the largest voter turnout in DuPage history in 2020. And now, like all election offices across the country, we’re remaining strong during a steady drumbeat of misinformation and disinformation attempting to delegitimize elections.

Defending democracy has remained my mission and I vow to protect your right to vote.

Q: If you are an incumbent, describe your main contributions. Tell us of any important initiatives you’ve led. If you are a challenger, what would you bring to the position and what would your priority be?

A: Under my leadership, we successfully consolidated with the Election Commission in the middle of an election cycle despite no transition plans. Within a few years, DuPage’s elections transformed from a series of front-page failures into a model for the state.

We replaced the county’s 20-year-old voting equipment with the most secure, state-of-the-art, 100% paper system, implementing the project in seven months.

DuPage is now the statewide leader in voter access as the first and only county offering “Vote Anywhere” on Election Day, rather than limiting voters to their home polling place.

This initiative, combined with a robust vote-by-mail program and doubling early voting sites, resulted in DuPage having the highest voter turnout in the region for the 2022 primary.

Thanks to our new candidate education program, DuPage had an unprecedented zero objections for the 2022 election season. Daily Herald editors stated that this was a “noble goal” and that more county clerks should do it.

Q: Name one concrete program you’ll create or personnel move you’ll make to improve efficiency in the office or make it more successful. Explain how it will be funded and how you will overcome any obstacles to initiating it.

A: Prior to 2019, the County Clerk’s Office and Election Commission were entirely different offices. We have made great strides in merging the two together. In a second term, I intend to further consolidate the operations of the previously separate offices.

Staff in the county clerk’s vital records and revenue departments have been cross-trained to assist with election support duties. This reduces the need for temporary election workers, providing a cost savings to the county and increasing the quality of services.

In my second term, employees will be further cross-trained to more efficiently allocate staff time throughout the year around election-season spikes in workload.

Additionally, while I inherited each office’s separate website, my staff is currently working on shifting all content into a single county clerk’s office website that is scheduled to go live later this year. Residents will more conveniently be able to access the information they are looking for in one location.

Q: How secure are you in the knowledge that election results in DuPage County are reported fairly and accurately?

A: I am confident that election results in DuPage County are reported fairly and accurately. I sign my name to it.

My highest priority was to replace 20-year-old voting equipment. Finally, DuPage has 100% paper ballots – the gold standard in election security. Our new system was certified by Illinois to meet the highest election security standards. It is never connected to the internet, making it impossible to hack.

Elections are safeguarded by trained election workers and bipartisan teams of election judges, ensuring oversight of the entire process.

My staff works proactively with State’s Attorney Robert Berlin’s office to protect the integrity of DuPage County’s elections and ensure that any rare attempts at fraud are prevented and prosecuted.

Under the most intense scrutiny of any election in the history of DuPage, the recount of a countywide race confirmed the results of the 2020 general election and a judge dismissed false claims that ballots were miscast and miscounted.

https://www.dailyherald.com/news/20221016/jean-kaczmarek-2022-candidate-for-dupage-county-clerk?cid=search