The petty games continue in Illinois.
Two Congressional candidates from the Green Party are now having to shield themselves from frivolous attempts by Democratic Party operatives to knock them off the ballot. Illinois House Speaker Michael Madigan can be linked to both cases.
The petition signatures filed by Dan Kairis, running for U.S. House district 14, have been challenged by Jean Cattron of Elgin, a Democratic Committeeman in Kane County.
Bill Scheurer, running for U.S. House District 8, has been challenged by Gregory Ferritto. Cattron is represented by Michael Kasper, the General Counsel and Treasurer of the Illinois Democratic Party and former aide to Madigan. Scheurer is represented by another Democratic Party functionary, Michael Kreloff.
Both Cattron and Ferritto have a history of working for Madigan to attempt to knock candidates off the ballots. Kasper and Kreloff, meanwhile, were the attorneys who led the objections against Green Party candidate for Governor Rich Whitney in 2006, and several third party and independent candidates in 2004, including Ralph Nader for President.
Last week, Free & Equal Founder and Chief Executive Christina Tobin was quoted in the Daily Herald about the challenge to Kairis, “This is literally an objection in bad faith,” she said. “The voters deserve voices and choices. There’s no limit to how far these (party) leaders will go to ensure voice and choice stays off the ballot.”
Get the full story on the challenges to Kairis and Scheurer at Free & Equal, Inc.
Meanwhile, Republican candidate Anita Forte-Scott is working hard to stand up to her own party’s attempts to pave the road for Ryan Higgins, who has already secured his party’s endorsement, for House District 56.
A story in the Daily Herald identifies Forte-Scott’s petition challenger as Deborah Perrin. Perrin claims a number of Forte-Scott’s signatures were recycled from petitions she circulated in her 2008 bid for the seat. In defense of Forte-Scott, Tobin said the confusion was created Forte-Scott accidentally downloaded old petition forms.
Even if the state election board rules the handful of signatures void, Forte-Scott should still have enough valid signatures to qualify for the 2010 primaries. But one can’t trust the establishment.
“Who created these laws? The two-party system,” Tobin said.
Free & Equal believes its time for the games to end. It’s time for Illinois to stop the charades and get rid of the sham that is the state’s petition-challenge process.
Chicago-based freelance writer Warner Todd Huston said recently in an op-ed at Publius’ Forum:
The petition challenge is a long-time, widely abused, wholly cynical method of destroying your opponent here in Illinois. The petition challenge has been known to eliminate candidates from ballots all across the state — but most often in the tough town of Chicago — preventing voters from having their choice on election day. In fact, a petition challenge is how Barack Obama beat his first major political opponent in Chicago.
We agree, Mr. Huston.
Why not let the voters decide, not party bosses and political insiders?
On another note, we were excited to see a spirited discussion about the merits of real voter choice on CSPAN 2’s Book TV on Sunday.
For those of you who missed the forum at the Cato Institute on third party ballot access rights, the broadcast, “Not Invited to the Party: How the Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold,” will be airing again next Sunday. Click any of the links for exact times and details.
The forum includes authors Theresa Amato, Ralph Nader’s former Campaign Manager, and James Bennett, professor of economics at George Mason University.
Amato’s book Grand Illusion: The Myth of Voter Choice in a Two-Party Tyranny and Bennett’s book, Not Invited to the Party: How the Demopublicans Have Rigged the System and Left Independents Out in the Cold, can be purchased here. Your purchase of either of these great works helps support Free & Equal’s efforts to ease ballot access nationwide.
We hope you will continue to support us in our fight for free and equal elections in America.
Happy Thanksgiving,
Micah Gamino
Media Director
Free & Equal Elections Foundation
micah@freeandequal.org
