Former election judges allege slander, recordkeeping problems; finance chair signals possible forensic audit of clerk's office

Two women who identified themselves as former DuPage County election judges addressed the County Board during public comment on Aug. 12, alleging they were subjected to slander and wrongful termination after reporting election‑law concerns. Their remarks prompted discussion by the finance chair about possible audits of the county clerk's office.

Nancy Figliulo told the board she and another judge had been the "victims of bullying, lies, and a campaign of outright slander" by election judges and the Clerk's Election Division and urged a criminal investigation. She said she and others were removed from election judge lists through misinformation and that derogatory material remained in county records despite requests to have it removed.

Kathleen Gilroy gave a more detailed account. Gilroy said she learned of a termination only after receiving a letter dated Dec. 28, 2023, despite having last served in 2022. She said FOIA requests produced personnel files containing "malicious but petty lies," while complaints she said she filed about election‑law violations were absent from records. Gilroy also said the county attorney told her the entity she cited — the "election commission" — had been dissolved in 2019 and that multiple different FOIA request forms on the county website list different contact addresses.

"Either the records that we requested were not kept as they should have been or they are being covered up," Gilroy said.

Separately in committee reports, Finance Chair Member Garcia said the finance committee had heard presentations from the treasurer, the auditor (Baker Tilly), and other elected officials and that the county had seen approximately 50 bills submitted from the clerk's office recently, with 32 disapproved. Garcia said the situation and the auditor's concerns could prompt "a focused forensic audit or other options to be determined" and that she would bring options back to the finance board for discussion and a vote.

No formal county board action ordering a forensic audit was recorded during the Aug. 12 meeting; Member Garcia described it as a forthcoming option under consideration. The public commenters requested additional scrutiny of election‑related processes and recordkeeping; the transcript shows county staff and counsel were referenced in the exchange but did not provide a detailed response at the podium during public comment.