These responses were submitted by Democrat Nikita Richards, who faces incumbent Republican McLean County Clerk Kathy Michael. The questionnaire was prepared by GLT in partnership with the League of Women Voters of McLean County. See more candidate responses.
What professional experience do you have that you think qualifies you to be county clerk?
As a United States Navy veteran, I obtain a level of integrity and discipline while being equipped with a level of dedication to service, people and progress that those who have never served could never understand. I understand and am ready to serve as your next McLean County Clerk. I am also a precinct committee person and have been involved in voter registration and voter empowerment efforts for many years.
In my role as Employment Coordinator this position requires a keen sense of attention to detail, compliance to laws, and statues, budget management, promotional product purchasing, critical thinking, integrity led decision making, and creativity. I lead and coordinate the City’s recruitment and community outreach efforts, the selection of new hires, facilitate onboarding processes, train employees in areas of compliance, monitor data to improve HR metrics, quality of hire, cost of hire, and retention.
Much of my time is spent researching, developing, and participating in trainings, creating and attending employment focused events, assessing the needs of our workforce then carrying out the necessary actions intended for process improvement, and ROI assessment. All necessary skills and experience needed to effectively operate the daily duties of the Clerk’s office. Once elected, this experience will be applied to improve the training and service experience for election judges and volunteers. Training that will have a fresh, interactive, and innovative overhaul.
Another intricate responsibility of mine while serving in this capacity is that I am the staff liaison for the Bloomington Fire & Police Commission to ensure that sworn positions are filled in a timely manner. An opportunity that I take much pride in. I maintain Open Meetings Act standards while working with the Chairmen to ensure that the board functions ethically. I prepare the agenda packets, issue all pertinent communication, collaborate across departments, attend commission meetings, record & transcribe minutes, abide by board deadlines, record keep, and facilitate the backend process. These responsibilities are parallel to the Clerk’s duties for the McLean County Board, except that our current Clerk doesn’t create the agenda packets or transcribe minutes as I do.
Previously, I assisted in the development and success of the City of Bloomington’s Administrative Court. It is here that I served as Clerk of this court for the purpose of addressing public safety concerns, property abatement and ordinance violations. Leading up to the launch of Administrative Court in 2015, I worked with municipal court personnel from across the state, coordinated the selection of law judges to hear cases, verified their ability to serve, created all initial court documentation and made the necessary modifications required as the process manifested, worked with City inspectors of the Code Enforcement Department to prepare for court, drafted all court documents, prepared evidence, maintained deadlines, calendars, monitored possible conflicts of interest, built the database system that is currently used to enter and track ordinance violation citations, court cases and vital records.
More experience is available by request but for the sake of time and writing space I have highlighted the most recent.
What steps do you think the county clerk’s office should take to protect against cybersecurity threats, including those targeting our election systems?
Illinois was the target of cyber attacks in 2016 that resulted in over 76,000 voters’ information being breached. The Clerk is the last line of defense to upholding our democracy and that person needs to be a fierce advocate for securing voter data and the election process. This includes the willingness to request members of congress who can vote on matters pertaining to fully and properly funding an election systems and equipment overhaul for the state of Illinois. I am that candidate that can and will do so, as I partner with experienced election officials from neighboring counties and work towards progress for McLean County.
The Clerk’s office has the privilege of receiving federal HAVA funding that in the past is reported to not have been allocated properly, so I would ensure the appropriate allocation of these funds to use to safeguard our elections. The law provides funding to help states meet election data protection standards, replace voting systems, and improve election administration. The county’s election equipment has not been updated/ upgraded in over 16 years, however the Bloomington Election Commission has updated equipment. I think there’s great gains that could be made from meeting with their staff to discuss how they were able to do so. This year the state of Illinois received approximately 13.9 million dollars in HAVA funding for this very purpose. Though the Clerk does not have a vote as it relates to election legislature, the Clerk can and should serve as an advocate for constituents while petitioning and beseeching members of Congress to address this critical issue and provide the necessary funding to replace outdated and inadequate voting systems.
In addition, I would ensure that the County Clerk’s office staff participates in training and activities geared toward process improvement and election protection. This includes having all Clerk’s office personnel who are involved in the election process to become CIRA certified (Cyber Incident Response Assistance) through the National Security Cyber Assistance Program. Upon taking office, I am fully prepared to collaborate with experts within our community to address detection and prevention, including obtaining the support of our colleges and universities. As it pertains to training, I am completing Cybersecurity training instructed by FBI Special Agent Steven V. Telisak on October 3rd.
It is my strong belief that the Clerk’s office should consult and work with the County’s IT Department to address these needs, as they play a vital role in the safeguarding process. I also believe that the Clerk’s office should participate in and contribute to the Cyber Navigator Program to not only show solidarity but to be a part of the solution. The cyber navigator program will be used to support the efforts of election authorities to defend against cyber breaches and detect and recover from cyber attacks. A stark reality is that much of the election equipment that is currently used to collect and tabulate votes is antiquated and provided by unregulated vendors. This is a serious problem.
Voting machines are certified by the state, however the Clerk makes the decision as to which vendor to contract. Currently, there are no federal standards for security, operation, or hiring processes at companies that provide hardware and software for voting. As Clerk I would advocate that members of congress review on a routine bases the vendors we are working with to ensure that all possible measures are being taken to safeguard software, data, and systems at the state level. In the meantime and at the very least if equipment is not replaced then yearly updates should occur.
However, I would choose to approach safeguarding our elections. It is imperative that any communication pertaining to these efforts are both informative and do not to weaken the public’s faith in government. This can be done effectively by providing transparent, laymen term communication to the public in a variety of ways and often.
What is a service provided by the clerk’s office that is especially well-managed? And what is a service provided by the clerk’s office where you see room for improvement?
It appears that the marriage license process for heterosexual couples seem to run smoothly. However, after speaking with members of the LGBTQ+ community within McLean County, I could never forget the heart-wrenching incident that was shared with me from a couple. I was informed that when the law changed to grant same sex couples the ability to have their civil unions converted into marriage licenses, the current Clerk struggled to uphold this law. I listened to the story of this couple who believed that they had been married for months only to find out that their marriage license was not processed properly and the State Department had to assist to resolve the mishap.
Secondly, the service of providing information distribution is currently quite passive and I would improve this by digitalizing the Clerk’s office, working to update the office's website, including making the site ADA user accessible and less cumbersome. I would also implement increased resource outreach for vital records assistance. In addition, the Clerk’s office does not provide early voting locations to rural McLean County and I find this truly exclusive and unfortunate. I have spoken with a countless number of rural McLean residents who support my efforts to provide their communities with satellite early voting stations. I look forward to working alongside the community to do so.
One other area of improvement would include better voter registration log maintenance to ensure that the Clerk’s office is reducing waste where possible but is also being proactive in our efforts. It is my intention to implement a two step procedure in place for returned voter registration cards. In addition, under my administration the Clerk’s office will have a checks and balances process in place intended to prevent the purchase of ballots for the deceased or those who no longer reside in McLean County. This will contribute greatly to the voter registration log maintenance process.
Should the clerk’s office be proactively involved in voter engagement, in encouraging people to vote, in hopes of increasing turnout?
The Clerk’s office is responsible for the training of deputy registrars and election judges; both positions which are crucial in the voter engagement process. It is my belief that the Clerk’s office should be proactive in the distribution of election and voting information. If carried out effectively, these efforts will naturally increase voter turnout. It is important to encourage all who can and are eligible to participate in our democracy.
What would you do to ensure polling places are adequately staffed and equipped for Election Day?
Preparation is crucial in this role and I will be working with staff to assess our current preparation process for election season. In the past, the Clerk’s office was met with some issues that included running out of election process materials, long wait times, crowded polling locations on ISU’s campus and poor customer service to those who encountered issues. In addition, right before the primary election of 2018 and again prior to early voting for the 2018 General Election we have the removal or relocating of polling places.
As it relates to ensuring that polling locations have the adequate materials, I refer back to ensuring that the voter registration log is maintained properly, research the forecasted voter turnout expectation and have a small amount of extra readily available at restock polling place sites. Long wait times may occur, however two - four hours to vote is inacceptable and once way to reduce the possibility of this occurring is to ensure that election judges are thoroughly informed on how to conduct the process without blunder but most importantly that there is a qualified equipment operator present to resolve issues swiftly.
Another measure that would help is to secure the polling locations two years in advance, confirm reservation and participation of these locations every six months (When approaching election season, verify polling location commitment bi- monthly). In the case of ISU polling place locations, secure the Brown Ballroom early to ensure that students and election officials have adequate space and so that the polling location is easy for students to access. I would also work to secure a second polling place on campus near Tri- Towers due to the size of the campus and complexity of class schedules for many students.
It is important for the Clerk to provide election judges with frequent and interactive training and resources needed so that they feel comfortable and confident problem solving on such a hectic day. I have ideas for the election judge training experience that I look forward to carrying out. Those who volunteer in this capacity ought to be celebrated and shown appreciation. This not only helps with moral but helps to increase buy in. I will make a conscious effort to increase the number of active election judges that we have by listening to and applying the suggestions of those who currently serve, creating a committee focused on innovative recruitment and partnering with diverse community organizations that are already involved in this work.
Lastly, as Clerk I would assess staff’s compassion, dedication, customer service skills, and ability to de-escalate during times of high stress. This is necessary while working for the public and sharpening these skills can help election judges better perform on Election Day.
Do you think McLean County should establish a countywide election commission? Why or why not?
On September 29, 2017, The League of Women Voters of McLean County wrote a letter of support for a single county-wide election commission in a letter to the editor. I too support this stance for a non-partisan election commission. It is my belief that residents of McLean County would greatly benefit from CIRA certified staff, increased voter turnout, modernized election education, trainings for our volunteers, updated voting machines, and better support for election coordinators.
I strongly agree with LWV member Julie Prandi when she said, “employees who work only on elections will be better-trained and more-focused, and they'll conduct better elections.” These are all things that could be addressed by an independent countywide election commission whose sole purpose would be to protect and carry out one of the most vital civil right of our democracy. In addition consolidation would bring about a solution to the confusion and inefficiency of having two bureaucracies administer local elections.
I believe our elections should be professionally and independently run, which is how the Bloomington Election Commission is currently operated. Look no further than the difference in the information that is shared on each website to see the differences between a professionally operated election commission and a partisan operated commission. The BEC has dynamic and searchable data available to voters and candidates while the Clerk posts static .pdf documents that are not searchable and are very difficult to interact with.
