Independent County Board Challenges

[UPDATE - The challenge was dropped and the Electoral Board has adjourned (so never mind on that hearing on Thursday). From the County Clerk's Twitter feed:

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This is a followup to the challenge against Cathy Emmanuel's Independent bid for County Board District 4. More information on that at this Cheat Sheet post: Objections and County Electoral Boards. Tom Kacich had an opinion piece supporting more non-partisan changes to County government, but also covered some important explanatory information about the situation.

Tom Kacich | Independent wants board to become less partisan
Cathy Emanuel of Champaign, a member of the county nursing home board of directors and a past candidate for the Champaign City Council, is taking an unusual route to the county board. Rather than run as a Democrat or Republican, Emanuel hopes to run as an independent.

No one has run for the board as an independent in recent memory, if ever, and independent candidates for any office have not had a lot of success in this area...

Emanuel wants to run in County Board District 4, where only Republican Jim McGuire is on the ballot. District 4 includes parts of south Champaign and the entire southwestern quadrant of the county.

But a challenge has been filed to Emanuel's candidate petitions, and it's possible the three-member county electoral board will vote later this month to keep her name off the November general election ballot...

Emanuel's petitions are being challenged by Larry Kearns, a Republican precinct committeeman and a Tolono Township trustee. He contends that more than 80 of the approximately 600 petition signatures gathered by Emanuel and her allies are invalid for various reasons. If that contention is upheld and those signatures are ruled invalid, she would have only 515 signatures, just short of the 529 signatures an independent candidate needs to get on the ballot in District 4.

That steep signature requirement doesn't apply to Democratic or Republican candidates because it's the Republicans and Democrats who make the election rules.

Full opinion piece here. The next hearing of the Electoral Board is July 26th at 9am (more explanation of what that is exactly is here). Champaign County Clerk Gordy Hulten has told me that the hearing is open to the public. Normal Courthouse security procedures apply (i.e. no phones or laptops).


[Updated. Originally posted 7/17/2018 at 9:01pm]