Local city secretaries urge Cook County to create elections administrator; commissioners debate budget impact

City secretaries from two municipalities asked Cook County commissioners on July 28 to create a county elections administrator to centralize election operations and ease an upcoming transition in the county clerk's office. Diane Alcala, city secretary for the City of Gainesville, and Melinda Medford, city secretary for the City of Kalisburg, told the court the role would provide consistent oversight for voter registration, poll worker training, ballot preparation and centralized early-voting locations.

The request came during the public comment period and was followed by an extended discussion during the court's FY26 budget hearing. Commissioners and county election staff described the possible workload, likely costs and trade-offs — but did not vote to create the position. County Clerk Pam Harrison and other election staff described the current workload and said an administrator would free election staff to focus on other duties and could produce cost savings by centralizing judges, poll workers and ballot-by-mail processing.

During the budget hearing, clerk and registration staff presented numbers showing an expected increase in election-related expenses in the FY26 draft budget. The county’s projected net new revenue from property tax growth was discussed as roughly $79,000, a figure several commissioners noted is small compared with the recurring cost of a new full-time administrator plus supporting staff. Commissioners also pointed to other long-term obligations — such as vehicle and EMS equipment requests elsewhere in the draft budget — when weighing whether to add a persistent salary line.

Commissioners discussed how an elections administrator could be funded if approved: options included asking municipalities to share fixed annual costs, converting or reallocating existing county positions (for example, reclassifying an existing clerk position to a voter specialist), or adding new county positions with contributions from entities that run municipal elections. Several municipal speakers told the court some cities expect to save money if the county consolidates elections because consolidated ballots and joint polling places can reduce duplicate mailings and judge and worker costs.

There was no formal motion or vote to create an elections administrator on July 28. Instead, the court left the item as a budget and policy discussion: commissioners asked staff for more detailed, itemized cost estimates (salary, benefits, equipment, ongoing operating costs) and for proposals on how entities that benefit could share recurring costs. Judge Rome (presiding) and Commissioners said they expected to revisit the item while finalizing the FY26 budget but repeatedly cautioned that adding a permanent, funded position would require an ongoing revenue source rather than a one-time allocation.

The court scheduled further budget workshops for early August and instructed staff to return with more granular cost breakdowns and options for phased approaches (for example, a part-time administrator, an initial specialist in the clerk’s or assessor’s office, or a multi-entity cost-share model). The discussion included repeated reminders that, under current law and practice, responsibilities for voter registration and many election duties remain with the county clerk’s and voter registrar’s offices unless and until the commissioners adopt a formal administrative change.