Carpentersville objector looking beyond electoral board

A resident who filed objections against two Carpentersville trustee candidates, then was overruled, plans to take his case to court.

Frank Stoneham, disappointed and angered by the decision of the village's electoral board, said he will go a step above it.

“They are so biased,” Stoneham said of the electoral board members. “No one can get a fair hearing. There's nothing we can do unless we go through judicial review.”

Stoneham has until the end of the week to appeal the decision of the electoral board, which ruled in favor of candidates Humberto García and Don Burroway on Jan. 14.

Stoneham questioned the voter registration status of many who signed and spoke out against printed signatures and incomplete addresses on the petitions.

Carpentersville Trustee Judy Sigwalt chaired the hearings with Trustee Kay Teeter and Clerk Therese Wilde filling out the three-member board.

The board overruled some of Stoneham's objections after matching names on the petition against the registered voter list from the county. Citing law recognizing printed names as valid on legal petitions, the board also overruled those objections.

“We did our due diligence,” Sigwalt said. “We had the attorney present. It was all done by the letter of the law.”

Sigwalt said some signatures were stricken from petitions when board members decided two looked alike, perhaps indicating a wife signed for a husband. But in the end, both candidates had enough signatures to remain on the ballot.

Stoneham said the only thing that will keep him from filing in court will be if the village does not provide him with the documents he needs from the electoral board hearings in time. Otherwise, he is ready to plead his case before a judge.

“We're just going to have to go through a higher authority and let them decide,” Stoneham said.