REPORT DIGEST
STATE BOARD OF ELECTIONS
COMPLIANCE ATTESTATION
EXAMINATION
For the Two Years
Ended: June 30, 2011
Release Date: March 27,
2012
Summary of Findings:
Total this audit: 4
Total last audit: 5
Repeated from last audit: 1
State of Illinois, Office of the Auditor General
WILLIAM G. HOLLAND, AUDITOR GENERAL
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Office of the Auditor General, Iles Park Plaza, 740 E. Ash Street, Springfield, IL 62703
(217) 782-6046 or TTY (888) 261-2887
This Report Digest and Full Report are also available on the worldwide web at www.auditor.illinois.gov
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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.
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)
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.