Rarely formed panel to determine Elk Grove trustee candidate’s eligibility

At least five signatures is all that’s keeping prospective Elk Grove Village trustee candidate Jacob Glimco from appearing on the spring election ballot.

But the fate of his candidacy officially will be determined next week by a rarely constituted, three-member panel.

The village electoral board — composed of Mayor Craig Johnson, Village Clerk Lorrie Murphy and Trustee Chris Prochno — set next Monday at 1 p.m. as their decision date in Keith Lasken’s objection to Glimco’s nominating petitions.

“Lasken versus Glimco. It sounds so negative,” Johnson quipped at a meeting of the electoral board Wednesday morning.

That’s because it’s the first time in some three decades, if not more, that the panel has been formed.

Lasken, a fellow first-time trustee candidate, objected to two dozen signatures on Glimco’s nominating paperwork. Glimco collected 199 signatures, and a minimum of 194 are required to get on the April ballot.

A records examination by the Cook County clerk’s office Monday overruled Lasken’s claims on 13 signatures, upheld 10, and didn’t rule on one.

That means the electoral board will have to determine the validity of 11 signatures. If the panel endorses the county clerk’s findings, Glimco would be five below the minimum.

Both sides could present written evidence — such as notarized affidavits from voters confirming their signatures were bona fide — or even in-person testimony from witnesses.

What might be more cut and dry is any signature contested for not matching the voter’s registered address.

The race for three, four-year trustee terms on the village board would be uncontested if the objection is upheld. Incumbent trustees Jeff Franke and Joseph Bush are running, but Prochno — the longest-tenured trustee at 28 years — isn’t.