Watchdog group: DuPage election official has conflict of interest

A connection between a DuPage County official and a company that does business with the county is raising some concerns about potential conflict of interest.

Last year, the DuPage County clerk's office paid RecordFusion, a Pennsylvania firm that sells record-keeping software, $34,000 for a computer system to handle marriage licenses.

Former county recorder and DuPage Election Commission President Rick Carney is government liaison to RecordFusion, a paid, part-time job.

County Clerk Gary King said he learned about RecordFusion from Carney while he was still recorder.

But both officials, who are friends, state that Carney was not involved in the marriage license software purchase and that there is no conflict of interest.

"They have salesman who do that," Carney said. "There's no personal gain to me."

King said he obtained two other quotes from similar firms and found RecordFusion offered the best price.

King said his office processes 6,000 to 7,000 marriage licenses a year. The software they used was becoming outdated.

The system offered by RecordFusion is "quite by far the cheapest and so much superior to the old system," King said. "It's so much easier for staff."

But officials with the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project, a nonprofit group that has been critical of the DuPage Election Commission, said the transaction is very problematic.

"Elected officials in the county should not be doing business with the chairman of the election commission," said Jean Kaczmarek, a Glen Ellyn resident and ballot integrity project member. "What if there's an election dispute for that office in the future?"

Carney retired from the recorder's office in 2004 and started working for RecordFusion in spring 2006.

Carney said he consulted with the election commission's attorney about the ethics of working for RecordFusion and was given a green light.

Much of his responsibilities involve attending conferences where RecordFusion products are offered and meeting with potential clients. Carney previously served as former chairman of the Associated United States Association of Recorders.