Hostage crisis? Conroy offers more election funding amid dispute with clerk

Saying she won’t allow the county clerk to hold the November election hostage, DuPage County Board Chair Deb Conroy is proposing a $665,000 budget transfer to cover election-related printing and postage costs.

The move comes as county officials noted on Tuesday that the county clerk’s office, headed by Jean Kaczmarek, has already spent 99.8% of the money it was allocated for postage and 74% of its printing budget.

County board members are expected to vote on the additional funding during a special meeting on Sept. 1.

Kaczmarek and her chief deputy, Adam Johnson, didn’t attend a county board meeting Tuesday.

The clerk has publicly declined Conroy’s invitations to discuss election funding, saying she provided the necessary information last October, when she outlined projected expenses.

Kaczmarek, who says her office is facing a $2.5 million budget shortfall for the November election, said on Tuesday that she does not plan to attend the Sept. 1 meeting.

“I told them what I needed,” said Kaczmarek, referring to an October 2025 meeting where she projected the $2.5 million shortfall based on the county’s proposed budget for her office. “They know the numbers … none of this is a surprise.”

But other officials insist that Kaczmarek did not present a budget in the requested format and was the only countywide elected official to ignore the proper procedures.

DuPage’s finance department drafted a 2026 budget for Kaczmarek based on the county clerk’s office’s total spending in 2022, the last year there was a gubernatorial election.

Ultimately, the clerk’s office was given a budget that included $7.47 million to fund the primary and general elections, reflecting a 14% increase over the amount spent in 2022.

In proposing the $665,000 budget transfer from county contingency funds, Conroy criticized Kaczmarek for not working with county staff and for failing to transfer money from other line items within her own budget to cover projected shortfalls.

“By refusing to act, the clerk is jeopardizing her office’s ability to send out needed materials and vote-by-mail ballots in time for the upcoming election, as required by law,” she said.

Conroy noted she reached out to Kaczmarek two weeks ago to discuss the matter. Kaczmarek, however, declined, reiterating that her office will be $2.5 million short for election funding.

“I take the operation of elections very seriously,” Conroy said. “However, we will not allow the clerk to hold our elections hostage while demanding $2.5 million without any information about why the sum is needed.”

Johnson said there are no election-related purchases pending that would require funding transfers within the clerk's budget.

“Nothing is being held hostage by funds not being transferred yet,” he said. “The only thing jeopardizing our elections is Deb Conroy's choice not to fund them.”

Kaczmarek and Johnson said on Tuesday that the clerk’s office will begin establishing election plans on Sept. 1. But once they begin work on the plans, it is difficult to change, they added.

Both said the proposed $665,000 budget transfer will still fall short of what is needed.

They did not have final information on which services might be cut. But they said the number of polling places could be reduced or early voting could start later.

According to Johnson, the county would normally open five early voting locations on Sept. 24, the first day early voting may start. But state law does not mandate early voting to begin until Oct. 19, he said.

In addition, the clerk’s office is not mandated to send vote-by-mail applications to every registered voter. But it has done so during recent elections to increase accessibility.

The expanded early voting and vote-by-mail efforts could be in jeopardy, Kaczmarek said.

“The clerk has gone above and beyond to give voters the best possible experience,” Johnson said. “If the DuPage County Board thinks that is too generous, they should just say so.”

Conroy noted that Kaczmarek still has $2.7 million left in the election division budget, including $1.19 million for election judges. According to county figures, Kaczmarek spent $1.13 million for election judges in the primary. Conroy said the $1.19 million left for election judges is “seemingly more than enough based on past expenditures.”

To view Kaczmarek’s proposed spending plan from October, visit the county clerk’s website.