2004 DuPage ballots' destruction not illegal, Birkett says

Voting records of the 2004 presidential election were destroyed by the DuPage County Election Commission improperly, but not illegally.

DuPage County State's Attorney Joseph Birkett said the recent opinion from Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan regarding the issue doesn't show any criminal action occurred.

"The election commission did nothing wrong from a legal standpoint," Birkett said. "In my opinion, it's case closed."

Madigan's opinion states the election commission should have sought approval from the state before destroying the records and will have to do so in the future.

Pat Bond, the election commission's attorney, said conflicting language between the state election code and its Local Records Act created confusion.

"What we're going to do in the future is see if we can get the legislation clarified," he said.

Birkett's office and the Illinois Local Records Commission requested Madigan's opinion on the matter last year after members of the Illinois Ballot Integrity Project claimed the records had been destroyed prematurely.

Members of that group claim they requested the records from the 2004 election in February 2005, but were told they had already been destroyed. Federal law requires records from national elections be kept for 22 months.

Bond said the records were kept for the proper time period.

Madigan's opinion doesn't address the timing of the records' destruction.

Melisa Urda, co-chairwoman of the Ballot Integrity Project's DuPage County chapter, said she was disappointed Birkett's office would not pursue an investigation into any wrongdoing by the election commission.

"I'm disappointed that in the future we have no confidence that the election commission will follow state law," she said. "I think they should follow the law like everyone else and should not be held above the law."

Birkett insisted nothing criminal has occurred.

"I certainly respect the group for bringing this to my attention and believe there was a legitimate dispute," he said. "If they're not pleased with the opinion of the attorney general, take it up with her office."