Federal judge rules for new election calendar

A federal judge on Friday approved a new calendar for the Feb. 5 special primary election and March 8 special general election to replace retired U.S. Rep. Dennis Hastert.

The judgment was in response to a lawsuit filed by the Kane County clerk and other election authorities in the 14th Congressional District against the Illinois State Board of Elections.

The 20-page consent decree entered by U.S. District Judge Ruben Castillo sets new deadlines for the various tasks that must be completed to accommodate the shortened timetable.

The existing deadlines do not give the election officials enough time -- as outlined in state election code -- to accept applications for absentee ballots, including those required by the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act that governs voting by members of the military.

Castillo also ordered the election authorities to appoint a liaison to coordinate with an official from the state board of elections to ensure all election responsibilities are met.

Stein releases more videos:

In other 14th Congressional District news, Democratic candidate Jotham Stein released two more cheesy campaign videos on YouTube this week. One features the St. Charles lawyer outside a grocery store where he spent $40.32 -- the per-vote amount of opponent Bill Foster's own personal wealth that he's spending on his congressional campaign -- on three bags of groceries. A federal campaign finance report showed Foster has spent $920,773 of his own funds on his campaign, which comes to $40.32 per voter based on the 22,831 ballots cast in the 2006 Democratic congressional primary election.

The second features Stein swinging on a playground set and getting snow on his face.

"I was told to make funny ads because funny ads go on YouTube and people like to watch them and they don't like these serious stuff with these boring candidates," he explained in the video.

But, he goes on to say, the fact that so many American children go to bed hungry and lack health care is "not funny. I can't make it funny."

In an apparent nod to GOP candidate Jim Oberweis' often maligned illegal immigrants filling Soldier Field campaign ad from his 2004 U.S. Senate run, Stein's video also features a shot of Soldier Field, which Stein said would be filled to capacity 211 times if all the hungry children in America entered.

Quinn backs Laesch:

Lt. Gov. Pat Quinn endorsed Democrat John Laesch at the candidate's Aurora campaign headquarters this week, calling Laesch "a strong voice for the veterans, consumers, and taxpayers of Illinois and across the nation."

Laesch said he appreciated the thumbs-up from Quinn, whom he described as "an experienced grass-roots organizer and advocate for consumer protection, tax reform and giving citizens a stronger voice in government."

lsmith@dailyherald.com