No guarantee: DuPage clerk won't commit to using $665,000 for election printing and postage

DuPage County Board members Tuesday approved another $665,000 for election-related printing and postage expenses, even though the county clerk’s office could not guarantee the money would be spent as intended by the board.

County officials noted last week that the clerk’s office had spent 99.8% of its postage budget and 74% of its printing budget for elections. The budgets cover costs such as ballot printing and postage for vote-by-mail ballots.

During a special county board meeting Tuesday, Chief Deputy Clerk Adam Johnson had contentious exchanges with several board members. County board Chair Deb Conroy cut Johnson off multiple times during questioning.

When asked if the additional $665,000 would be used strictly for postage and printing, Johnson initially couched his answer.

“The clerk will run the election to the best of her ability out of the total appropriated funds,” Johnson responded.

When asked again, Johnson said there was no guarantee.

“That all $665,000 will solely be used for postage and printing?” Johnson asked in response to board member Saba Haider’s questions. “Correct, that is not guaranteed.”

When asked during a later telephone interview whether she would guarantee the money would fund for postage and printing, Clerk Jean Kaczmarek referred to Johnson’s comments. She declined to answer herself.

Kaczmarek has maintained that county board members did not provide sufficient funding for her office to fulfill its obligations, including overseeing elections, when they approved the county’s 2026 budget in November.

Johnson said the clerk’s office needs at least an additional $1.2 million, including the $665,000 the board approved Tuesday, to run a successful general election.

“You want $1.2 million and a blank check,” Conroy shot back when Johnson referred to the shortfall. “That will never happen.”

Board member Mary FitzGerald Ozog characterized the clerk’s actions as “retribution.”

“There is no excuse whatsoever for this lack of transparency,” Ozog said.

In their criticism, Ozog and others pointed to the March primary results, in which Kaczmarek lost the Democratic nomination for clerk to board member Paula Deacon Garcia.

“The voters have spoken, and neither of you (Kaczmarek and Johnson) will be back next year,” Ozog said.

Board member Sam Tornatore called Tuesday’s discussion an “exercise in futility” and worried it was not the end of the ongoing feud.

“This is not the last chapter, friends,” Tornatore said. “You know they’re going to come back for more.”

In a statement after the board meeting, Conroy said the county board “appropriately funded” the clerk’s election division when it approved the initial 2026 budget. But the clerk’s “rate of spend” was higher than anticipated, she said.

“No one expected the Clerk to blow through the printing and postage budget in the first half of the year,” Conroy said in the statement.

After Tuesday’s meeting, Johnson was critical of board members, saying they use the board room floor as a “literal bully pulpit” and have shown little interest in working with the clerk or seeking out explanations from the office.

“The board asks us to come speak, but they don’t want to actually hear what we have to say,” Johnson said.

Though details are not yet finalized, Kaczmarek and Johnson said their plan will be based on the assumption that the county board will fund operations so the November election can run the same as previous elections.

Alicia Fabbre is a freelance reporter for the Daily Herald.