Objection to petition of 62nd District House independent candidate upheld

An objection to the petition of a would-be independent candidate for the 62nd House district was upheld Thursday by Lake County election officials.

The three-member Lake County electoral board reconvened to issue its written opinion regarding the challenge of nominating petitions filed for the seat by Ingleside resident Denise Rotheimer. The action upheld the board's July 18 oral ruling.

"She was found to have insufficient (number) of signatures because pages one through 69 were photocopied," Lake County Clerk Willard Helander said.

Helander said there was no allegation of fraud, but that state law was changed years ago to not allow photocopies or facsimiles.

"Electoral boards are creatures of (state) statue," she said. "We followed the law and found (in) striking those that were photocopies, there were insufficient signatures," she added.

Rotheimer has 10 days to seek a judicial review in Lake County circuit court.

"I absolutely will do that," Rotheimer said. She added the signatures were of registered voters and otherwise followed the rules.

"I had over 2,000 valid signatures," she said.

Helander described it as an "interesting case" in a digital age in which esignatures, for example, are now accepted for voter registration.

Rotheimer said 71 pages of her petition were original sheets and that she was in substantial compliance with the law and should be allowed on the ballot.

In the 62nd House District, incumbent Democrat Sam Yingling is seeking a second term. He faces Republican Rod Drobinski, a Lake County prosecutor.

District 62 covers all or portions of Grayslake, Gurnee, Wildwood, Grandwood Park, Hainesville, Round Lake Beach, Round Lake Heights, Round Lake Park, Lake Villa, Libertyville, Wauconda, Lindenhurst, Old Mill Creek, Wadsworth and Third Lake.