Does form matter? Kaneland candidates differ in petition challenges
Kaneland school board member Tony Valente Wednesday characterized the effort to keep him and two other people off the April 7 ballot as "kind of bush league" and "bullying."
The objections are more about his differences with his fellow trustees then election law, he said. "In my opinion, there were three individuals with philosophically different viewpoints. They (objectors Peter Lopatin, Gale Pavlak and Teresa Graue Witt) are tax-and-spend. We (he, Dan Nagel and Jerry Elliott) are more fiscally conservative, and that does not bode well (for the others)."
The Kane County electoral board conducted 12 hearings on the matter. Valente made his comments after his last hearing.
And judging by what electoral board member Joe McMahon said after the first of the hearings, the three men have a good chance of staying on the ballot.
The complaint
Lopatin, Pavlak and Witt are running for re-election. They and Kaneland High School teacher Lynn McHenry, the Kaneland Education Association negotiator, filed nearly identical objections.
They say Valente, Elliott and Nagel used the wrong form, and should have used a form that requires listing the township the candidates live in, because the Kaneland school district elects board members by township. People should know what township candidates live in before they sign petitions, they argued.
No more than three board members can come from any one township. Valente, Nagel, Elliott, Witt and Lopatin live in Sugar Grove Township.
Valente, Elliott and Nagel argued that there is nothing in state election law that specifies which form must be used. The top of the forms says they are "suggested." They obtained their forms off the state election board's website. They said listing their townships was irrelevant, as once the election is held it will be determined who can be seated. If more than three Sugar Grove Township residents are in the top four overall vote-getters, only three of them could be seated. Ryan Kerry of Campton Township and Pamela Voorhees of Pierce Township are also running.
Valente also asked the objectors if they had reviewed everybody's petitions, and if they objected to Kerry's petition. Kerry used both forms in his election petition. Nobody objected to his petitions.
Likely to stand?
Although the electoral board won't deliberate and issue its decision until Monday, McMahon commented on one of the objections. He said Elliott's petition sheets "are in substantial conformance" and that "minor inconsistencies or clerical errors do not rise to the level of removing a candidate."
McMahon is the Kane County state's attorney. The other board members are Suzanne Fahnestock, elections director, and Thomas Hartwell, the Kane County circuit court clerk.