DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek is asking for a judge’s help to get two key vendors who provide election-related services paid.

Last week, the clerk’s office filed a motion for a temporary restraining order to get two bills — totaling more than $230,000 — paid so the county can plan for the 2026 election. In the motion, both companies indicated they would no longer work with the county unless they receive payment and are given assurances that they will be paid for work related to the 2026 election.

“Elections must be planned months in advance,” Kaczmarek said in a written statement. “The time to contract with our vendors for the primary is now, and no business will agree to work they aren’t being paid for. The voters elected me to administer elections, and my efforts to do so continue to be illegally obstructed.”

The two bills prompted the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office earlier this year to request a special prosecutor to conduct an investigation to determine if the clerk’s office violated state laws regarding competitive bidding.

The Illinois attorney general’s office was appointed to the complaint but has not yet made a ruling or issued any findings.

Officials with the DuPage County state’s attorney’s office declined to comment on the motion for the temporary restraining order. Both parties are expected to appear in court on Thursday.

The request for the temporary restraining order is the latest in a years-long battle between the Democrat-led DuPage County Board and the county clerk’s office, also headed by a Democrat. The two sides have clashed over how bills get paid and the internal control Kaczmarek has over her office.

In August, a judge sided with the county board, saying the clerk must follow the county’s accounting procedures. A motion from Kaczmarek’s office challenging the county’s bidding procedures has not yet been ruled upon.

According to affidavits, officials from both Naperville-based Prager Moving & Storage and Lisle-based Governmental Business Solutions say they won’t provide election-related services if their bills are not paid.

In court documents, an official with Prager Moving & Storage notes they have provided election services for DuPage County for 40 years. Prager, which is owed $115,000, stores and moves election equipment and materials for the county.

Governmental Business Solutions, which is owed $116,414, notes that it serves 41 Illinois counties and election commissions. It provides election supply kits and machine test kits for elections in DuPage.

Both companies’ invoices are more than 90 days past due. County officials have raised questions about whether Kaczmarek followed proper bidding protocols in contracting with the companies.

Kaczmarek has maintained that state law gives her control over how her office is run, and the county cannot delay payment of bills. When the county’s auditor’s office reached out to Kaczmarek in June seeking documentation that a contract signed with Prager on Jan. 10 was properly bid, her office declined.

Her office noted that the county has had a long-standing relationship with Prager and that its services were bid several years ago.

“The clerk acted within her authority and delivered DuPage voters the best run elections in the state and the vendors who made that possible deserve to be paid,” Adam Johnson, chief deputy clerk, said in July.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20251013/news/dupage-county-clerk-goes-to-court-to-get-two-election-vendors-paid/