Voters decide to dismantle Aurora Election Commission

Voters on Tuesday put the Aurora Election Commission out of business.

With all precincts counted, unofficial results show that 6,476 voters supported ending the commission's role in elections in the portion of the city in Kane, Kendall and Will counties, compared to 4,692 in favor of the status quo.

The city has had its own election commission since 1934.

Linda Fechner, the commission's executive director, could not immediately be reached for comment.

Mayor Richard Irvin and Kane County Board Chairman Chris Lauzen signed a letter of intent last month to have Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham open a satellite office in Aurora. Lauzen, an Aurora resident, also circulated petitions to have the question put to voters.

Irvin pledged that the city would cover the office space and utilities.

Cunningham has said his Geneva-based office plans to open a satellite location in Aurora, offer at least three early voting locations in the city and work with the city to provide a mobile voting vehicle.

Now, voting duties will be handled by the Kane, Kendall and Will county clerks, with Kane taking over 63 precincts, Kendall handling three and Will taking on seven.

The DuPage County Election Commission serves the DuPage portion of the city.