The Knox County electoral board convened for just eight minutes Friday afternoon.
It took no action and it heard no evidence regarding pending challenges to the nominating petitions of five Republican candidates running in the March primary election, but it did schedule another meeting for next week.
The challenges cite clusters of signatures that appear to be written by the same person on petitions that were certified by the candidates, as well as other invalid signatures and paperwork errors.
Illinois law requires voters who sign nominating petitions to write only their own signature in front of a petition circulator, so multiple names written in the same handwriting determined to be written by one person can invalidate an entire petition sheet — and potentially knock a candidate off the ballot.
Only two of the three electoral board members — County Clerk Scott Erickson and State’s Attorney Ashley Worby — were present at Friday’s hearing. Circuit Clerk Mary Ostrander, who is the third member of the electoral board, was unable to attend.
Without all three members, the electoral board was unable to consider evidence or begin reviewing the disputed signatures that are at the heart of the objections to the candidates’ nominating petitions.
State law requires electoral boards to convene within five days of objections being filed. But with Ostrander’s absence, Friday’s hearing served only as an organizational meeting.
Erickson, who by statute is the chair of the electoral board, set the next hearing in the proceedings for 3 p.m. Friday, Nov. 21.
Erickson said, given that the objections mainly relate to disputes about signatures on the petitions, that hearing will be a digital "binder check,” during which the electoral board will examine the challenged signatures line by line against the signatures on their voter registrations.
The objections were filed against Erickson, treasurer candidates Jerrie Ann Walters and Janet Windish, and county board candidates Anthony Weiss and Tammy Weiss in District 1. Objections against the Weisses are not about signatures in the same handwriting, but other allegations about the validity of the signatures.
Erickson will recuse himself for the consideration of the challenge to his nominating petitions, with Treasurer Robin Davis expected to be the third member of the electoral board in that case.
James Greenwood, an attorney representing objectors Pamela Davidson, Ronald Erickson, and Darla Krejci, told the board he intends to file subpoenas following the binder check, indicating that additional testimony or records may be considered before the board issues its final rulings.
Once the electoral board has conducted its hearings, it must issue rulings within 24 hours. Decisions are also subject to appeals in Knox County circuit court.
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