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March Election Judge Says She Has Never Been Paid; Husband, Also An Election Judge, Says He Had Questionable Deduction

OAK PARK, Ill. (CBS) -- Two election judges live in the same house, but only one has gotten a paycheck – and his check has a questionable deduction.

As CBS 2's Tim McNicholas reported, the couple reached out to the CBS 2 Morning Insiders after we reported 150 Cook County Election Day workers were still waiting on their checks.

For Ron and Nancy Morrison, working Election Day is a tradition. They have served as election judges for years in Oak Park.

And many judges bailed at the last minute back in March due to COVID-19, but not the Morrisons. But despite her work, Nancy said she still has not gotten her check for about $300.

"Very odd, because usually were paid like within two or three weeks of the election," she said.

Nancy Morrison is one of more than 150 Election Day workers in Cook County who have not received their checks. Susan Rohde is another.

"Come on, there's got to be a way to solve this," Rohde said.

A deputy clerk told us the checks were placed in the mail, but for some reason did not make it – and the Cook County Clerk's office is working with the Post Office to investigate.

A Clerk's office spokesman told us earlier this month there are "extreme delays" with the Postal Service.

USPS, on the other hand, said their Chicago operations are running as normal.

So is Nancy's check lost in the mail? She emailed the county for answers.

"She's going to put me in touch with another person at the county to get the check reissued," she said.

Ron lives in the same house, and he said his checks were mailed to him quickly. He is an early election judge, so he said his pay might have bene handled differently.

But he noticed a pension deduction on his check of about 9 percent.

"Which is a pretty heavy bite, and since I'm well over the mandatory retirement age, I had some serious concerns about that," Ron Morrison said.

A Clerk's office spokesman said any election workers who feel they were wrongly charged for a pension can contact the county pension fund to figure out their options.

The Clerk's office also said "inconsistent application" and disagreement about IRS rules is to blame for the pension deduction. They are working on a fix.

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