DuPage Co. (ECWd) –
When people are denied public records they routinely reach out to us for assistance and more often than not, we are able to request the same records and we get them. When this happens it is an indicator of a problem because if we are able to get those records, so too should others.
The DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek and her Chief Deputy Scott Mackay signed a contract with Dominion Voting Systems Inc. on January 24, 2020. After a copy of that contract was requested by an individual and denied, we were asked to assist in getting the same records. Our Freedom of Information Act request was granted and we find the Dominion Voting Systems encouragements to avoid transparency very troubling.
From the Contract:
- 8. Customer shall take any and all action necessary or appropriate to assert all applicable or potentially applicable exemptions from disclosure under the FOIA Statute and take all other legally permissible steps to resist disclosure of the Information including, without limitation, commencement or defense of any legal actions related to such disclosure. In the event Customer receives a request for Information under the FOIA Statute, Customer shall inform Dominion of such request within ten (10) days of Customer’s knowledge or such shorter period as necessary under the FOIA Statute to avoid prejudice to Dominion’s ability to oppose disclosure, Dominion shall use its best efforts to assist and support Customer’s exercise of any statutory exemption in denying a records request under the Freedom of Information Act (5 ILCS 140/1 et seq.). In the event that Customer becomes subject to fines, costs or fees pursuant to Section 11 of the Freedom of Information Act (5 ICLS 140/11) relying upon Dominion’s claim that the information requested is exempt, Dominion shall indemnify Customer for those fines, fees and costs, notwithstanding any other provisions In this agreement. In the event Customer is required by court order to disclose any of the Information, Customer shall give written notice to Dominion at the earlier as soon as reasonably practical after tile imposition of such an order.
There are exemptions under FOIA regarding trade secrets and we understand such exemptions and their applicability to certain information. However, the language in this contract focuses on encouraging, in fact, instructing the County that they “shall” take any and all action necessary or appropriate to assert “potentially applicable exemptions from disclosure” and to take all other legally permissible steps to resist disclosure of the information.
So there is no confusion, public records are either exempt or not. In fact, in the event a document has information that is exempt and also contains non-exempt information, the public body “may” elect to redact the exempt information. There is no obligation to redact exempt information which points to exemptions being an option.
Any public official who signs a contract that directs them to resist transparency raises numerous red flags, especially when we are talking about one of the most sacred parts of our Republic, voting.
Another troubling part of the contract that jumped out at me was the language in section 9.
9.2. Reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, decipher or analyze the Software in whole or in part;
9.3. Alter or modify the Software in any way or prepare any derivative works of the Software or any part or parts of the Software;
Considering this software deals with the people’s voting results, this contract prohibits the County to analyze the software. If there was any type of vote tally concerns it appears the County is prohibited to analyze the Software. Analyzing the software would be one of the first steps to determine or identify if there was or was not a problem in the vote tally.
The most concerning issue, in light of all that national attention regarding Dominion and our elections, is the reference of modifying the software. The county is prohibited from altering or modifying the software. While I agree nothing should be altered modified, such a prohibition appears to indicate the software can in fact be altered or modified.
If the county is prohibited from analyzing the software, how on earth can a determination be made if the software was altered or modified?
We understand there are vote totals concerns being investigated in DuPage County and will update with a separate article as that information is gathered.
A copy of the Dominion Contract can be downloaded at this link or viewed below. Key points in the article can be found on page 4.
Dominion Software contract 1
41 Comments
Jennifer
Posted at 20:14h, 05 FebruaryWatch Documentary about the election michealjlindell.com they are trying to silence the truth. It is important every American watch.
PK
Posted at 14:17h, 07 FebruaryI’m not opposed to looking for dry land. But this guy looks like the proprietor of a Minnesota based-company which markets product exclusively to caucasians via actors in monotonous TV commercials. Because of that, I seriously doubt his capability to produce a quality documentary…3 hours of that will probably just put me to sleep.
Illinois Citizen
Posted at 14:40h, 28 JanuaryAll information regarding elections is public information and no company, including Dominion, has any right to assert otherwise. This even extends to the proprietary software used by Dominion.
If particular software is used to determine the outcome of an election, the public has a right to inspect that software to ensure that it’s functioning in a fair manner.
Any effort to block complete transparency regarding an election is inherently corrupt and needs to be exposed and dealt with severely.
Dominion encouraged DuPage County to engage in public secrecy regarding elections. No company has the right to encourage a governmental body to engage in election secrecy.
Illinois needs to be examined for election fraud. The regions of Illinois most known for election fraud are the metro Chicago area and St. Clair County, which is home to East St. Louis.
East St. Louis is one of the few cities in Illinois to have its own election commission despite only having a population of 26,543. This election commission is routinely used to facilitate election fraud as described in the two attached editorials from the Belleville News Democrat and the St. Louis Post-Dispatch.
https://www.bnd.com/opinion/editorials/article113770618.html
https://www.stltoday.com/opinion/editorial/editorial-vote-yes-to-dissolve-east-st-louis-election-board/article_407d7199-c5f5-59e7-9a62-58b238074088.html
Mags
Posted at 23:25h, 27 JanuarySaw the article on Gateway Pundit earlier today. Glad to see this is getting attention nationwide.
Check it out and read the comments. Many are questioning the legality of this and the legitimacy of this election.
Thanks Edgar County Watchdogs for shining a light on this.
john q public
Posted at 20:09h, 27 Januaryits the 27th of january – im not a du page county resident – but i am a crook county punching bag , i mean taxpayer – i want my board of elections to continue to rape and pillage this far from great state of illinois as usual -if we as citizens CONTINUE to put up with this business as usual death march the illinois politicains have been performing theres no one to blame but ourselves for tucking and rolling with it year after year , hell decades go into politics yeah no thanks just sell all thats yours and move away it seems that simple
Jim
Posted at 14:59h, 27 JanuaryCongratulations, seen this article made thegatewaypundit.com page today
johnny5
Posted at 12:27h, 27 JanuaryWhat are the laws at the county and state levels? If they require transparency in the election process then it is likely the clerk did not have the authority to enter into the contractual agreement from the start. That would render the contract null and void.
Anthony M
Posted at 13:22h, 22 JanuaryThis is the year the corruption will be stopped!!!!!
Mike
Posted at 01:09h, 20 JanuaryPages 8 and 9 are missing.
Kirk Allen
Posted at 10:06h, 20 JanuaryGood Catch! Thanks! article updated. The last two pages were financial terms and definitions.
Tony
Posted at 16:10h, 18 JanuaryI believe in contract Law, you cannot write a contract to bypass the law, So writing a contract to prevent FOIA requests would be illegal to begin with wouldn’t it?
Not a lawyer and don’t know the nuances of FOIAs. But I’d start there.
Ted Nicholaus
Posted at 23:13h, 17 JanuaryFACT: A similar software license agreement for voting equipment is agreed upon by EVERY County Clerk or election authority in Illinois and in all 50 states – even in Edgar County.
FACT: Thirty-five other County Clerk offices and election authorities in Illinois have signed virtually the same software license agreement with Dominion: Cass, Cook, Crawford, Cumberland, Ford, Franklin, Fullerton, Greene, Grundy, Iroquois, Jackson, Jasper, Johnson, Kankakee, Knox, Lee, Marion, Massac, McDonough, McClean, Morgan, Perry, Piatt, Pope, Randolph, Richland, Rock Island, Schuyler, Scott, St. Clair, Warren, Washington, White, Winnebago and Chicago.
FACT: Proprietary license contracts within the election industry have been discussed publicly for nearly 20 years.
FACT: The voting equipment used in DuPage is best known as Diebold. After multiple owners, Dominion purchased the former Diebold license. It is not the same equipment or software as what has recently been in the news.
FACT: If a County Clerk does not agree to have a software license agreement, then he/she will not have permission to use the voting equipment, then he/she cannot out the statutory duty of conducting elections.
John Kraft
Posted at 10:40h, 18 JanuaryOur primary complaint about the software license is the part about taking every step to keep it from disclosure under open records laws, and the software company promising to pay any fines or legal fees for any attempts at preventing disclosure under FOIA. This article and this contract have nothing to do with the national stories on Dominion or anything else.
Mags
Posted at 13:49h, 18 JanuaryTed,
Fact – there is no justification for any County or State to sign Software agreements as egregious as this when it comes to Election Integrity. There are hundreds of articles that have been written over the years regarding the vulnerability of these systems.
Fact – we should not have private companies with secretive software/hardware disclosure running our elections.
Fact – The only way any one can guarantee our elections are secure is to go back to paper ballots hand counted on election day only (except in rare cases).
Knowing what has come to light and the massive evidence produced in the swing states this past November about how the election was stolen (on many different levels) – we cannot continue to allow this when it comes to our elections.
Just because all of these counties in Illinois signed off on such does not make it right.
Ang
Posted at 23:01h, 16 JanuaryPaper ballots
AND
Livestream the whole darned vote counting process and air it on C-SPAN.
Then the whole world can watch every last vote as it is accurately counted.
Is this rocket science to resolve this issue? I mean really.
NMWTLS
Posted at 21:53h, 16 JanuaryThere is no reason to make the accusation that the Watchdogs singled out DuPage county. They said people who are unsuccessful in obtaining public records routinely reach out to them for assistance as is the case here. So….if you want your county contracts and have tried unsuccessfully to obtain them, ask the Watchdogs to help you out. They are there to help – not do your job for you.
Paula McGowen
Posted at 19:23h, 16 JanuaryWondering why the Edgar County Watch Dogs are singling out DuPage county? All counties in Illinois and across the country have the same type of contract.
Mags
Posted at 22:01h, 16 JanuaryWell then I guess we will have to call out all counties in Illinois that have signed such egregious contracts. If you have evidence from these other counties please share it with us. There is No place for this in our Government, especially our elections. Are you condoning this Contract? I find it interesting that Ms. Kaczmarek called Dupage County out for years regarding vulnerabilities in our election equipment. She cried foul and she was right. She actually sued Dupage County over FOIA violations, and now we find out she signed something like this?? Lynn LaPlante who ran for Dupage County Chair against Dan Cronin in 2018 complained that voting machines switched her votes to Dan Cronin and did not have confidence in our election systems. What happened?
Sharon Brown
Posted at 19:22h, 27 JanuaryMAGS
This is a real shame, how things have turned out. I say as a Democrat who voted differently this year. I am almost shame to say that I am a Dem, I was thinking what would it take to get these machine out of our state. I do not want our state to be know for a crooked election state. How can we sue the state because apparently they knew that there were flaws in the machine but still allowed them to be sued. Do we get signatures or what. I do not want these machine used in our state.
Mags
Posted at 16:21h, 28 JanuarySharon, that is a good question. I do not want to vote in another election in Dupage County using these machines and software. I also want to see an end to massive vote by mail and to vote only on election day. Absentee ballots should be very limited to whom that would apply. We also need voter ID to assure us that only legal citizens are voting in our elections.
I would suggest those of us living in Dupage County share this information with fellow residents and start contacting the County Board members and DEMAND they fix this to ensure us that we have honest elections.
Sharon Brown
Posted at 19:06h, 28 JanuaryThank you for responding, I believe that we need to force them to stop using any machine and limit the mail in ballots. How can we sue the state of Illinois? They knowingly used machine which they knew would be deceptive.
Homer
Posted at 16:06h, 17 JanuaryPaula if I were to guess it’s called money in form of donation to check it out
Kevin W
Posted at 17:04h, 16 JanuaryAs a software developer myself, this is actually pretty common terminology in closed-source software. Could it be conspiracy? Sure. Just know that nearly every major software vendor will use near-identical language in their contracts to protect their proprietary code. Personally, I think it’s lame (I’m an Open-source advocate all the way), but it’s how they play.
Larry Miller
Posted at 15:54h, 16 JanuarySeems pretty clear that we need paper ballots not electronic.
Mags
Posted at 22:54h, 16 JanuaryAgree 100% – Paper ballots hand counted on election day. No early or absentee voting (except for a few valid exceptions) – Too many vulnerabilities with all of the electronic voting equipment. No more massive vote by mail either. It is ripe for fraud.
PK
Posted at 12:14h, 16 JanuaryThe document numbering indicates pages 8 and 9 are missing from the copy attached to this news article.
Warren W Wheaton
Posted at 10:50h, 16 JanuaryHow does the Clerk have the authority to sign such an agreement without County Board approval or at least County Attorney review and comment / approval? Did they…..or not? Seems like a reasonable review would have “Red Flagged” this. Who else was blind / sloppy or both?
Yvette Davis
Posted at 09:41h, 16 JanuaryThis is ridiculous to keep fanning the flames that incited violence last week! Read contracts before you sign. This has nothing to do with the November 2020 election.
Mags
Posted at 11:14h, 16 JanuaryYvette, This has everything to do with the November Election. Dupage County has been using Dominion software to run our elections.
This contract should trouble everyone who lives in Dupage County and the taxpayers and voters of Dupgage County need to hold their elected officials accountable for signing off on a contract like this.
We will find our if our elected Dupage County Board Members knew about the contract and if not, why not.
Sharon Brown
Posted at 19:14h, 27 JanuaryEvening Yvette,
Yvette as a Democrat, I voted a little different this year. However, I am confounded with what the corruption that is going on today on both sides. After reading parts of the contract it is obvious to me that the contract stated from January 2020-December of 2020, Remember the election occurred in November of 2020, a month before the contract ended. Yvette one should be more concerned with what this means to the entire world. People are blindsided by what the media is telling them and because some of us are so innocent we believe everything that is being told to us. I do believe that the election was stolen and it was fraud on every end. Would they willfully admit fraud? Would a rapist tell you-yes! I rape women? No, it has to be proven with evidence. I believe that the Lord is going to put fire under the devils feet and the truth is going to come out. I pray for our nation because if God does not intervene, we are domed.
Thank you have a blessed day.
Elizabeth Gruber
Posted at 06:24h, 16 JanuaryIs there no end to the corruption?
Slightly Sightful
Posted at 23:47h, 15 JanuaryI’ve seen a litterbox. If I hadn’t been there when the cat was covering it up, I wouldn’t have known what was contained inside. We are expected to believe that a thrice contending, twice defeated candidate won by margins never witnessed in human history, even by the deity that preceded the present incumbent. Without the ability to substantiate the data and verify the tally, there is no empirical evidence to validate the claim. I am not bitter about a lost election. I am bitter that if it was such a monumental accomplishment, that transparency would be paramount to those making the claim. Those making this claim, would be so audacious, to highlight how wonderful an accomplishment this is. Instead they hide behind the veil of virtue and Constitutionality, while administering the Constitution to their backsides to clean their nether regions, while targeting our Liberties.
Anon
Posted at 17:56h, 17 JanuaryAre we supposed to believe that the candidate from the smaller party that did nothing to unify the country, chose the stock market over the poor, allowed thousands to die by denying the existing of a pandemic, and made America a global laughing stock won re-election?
Ok. Sounds about right.
ANON REPLY
Posted at 10:33h, 27 January“Are we supposed to believe that the candidate from the smaller party that did nothing to unify the country, ”
Bigger or smaller does not correlate with anything meaningful. Unify with the brainwashed, corrupt, and China-owned?
“chose the stock market over the poor, ”
Destroying the economy and ushering in a Communist state is better?
“allowed thousands to die by denying the existing of a pandemic, ”
Bursting with lies, fabrications, and exaggerations. No flu numbers this year, rigged tests. COVID is routinely used as an excuse to sidestep the Constitution.
“and made America a global laughing stock won re-election?”
I’d rather be a laughing stock and remain sovereign and alive.
joe admas
Posted at 11:48h, 27 JanuaryThousands died because doctors were banned from prescribing treatments…bottom line. Everyone knew the severity of COVID. To not treat this at the onset of contracting it, is the reason so many died and continue to die. Prior to the China virus, the economy was growing and every age group and race increased their pocketbook. Fact! To believe otherwise you must be listening to the Democrat talking points and believing them. You’re allowing yourself to be brainwashed.
Dave
Posted at 19:57h, 15 JanuaryI smell organized crime….
C. Earl Jantzi
Posted at 15:10h, 27 JanuaryOrganized crime in Dupage County IL? The officials that signed such a contract should be fired immediately for dereliction of duty. Their duty is to the taxpayers, NOT the company. Any company that asks for such a clause in a public contract should be investigated BEFORE purchasing such equipment.
Jennifer Hayes
Posted at 20:13h, 01 February100% agree
jannie
Posted at 19:25h, 15 JanuaryWhat I find interesting is this contract is almost a year old. It certainly has nothing to do with the Nov 2020 election. If this was an issue for someone: a. Why wasn’t this contract of January 2020 brought up before: b. Do all companies ask that contracts like this be signed or is it just this company?
Irwin Fletcher
Posted at 15:42h, 16 JanuaryThe contract was from 01JAN2020 until 31DEC2020. So it would in fact cover the presidential election.
Jennifer Hayes
Posted at 20:12h, 01 FebruaryBecause it is a year old, you don’t think it has anything to do with the 2020 election? really? so because they had the plan in place a year before the election it is ok? HOw can anyone think this is OK? This infuriates me! I am so mad, I know DuPage is a Red county. I don;t believe that Durbin won again! I never have,