Sherman gets five candidates knocked off ballot

A suburban atheist and civil libertarian is delving into a different line of work - getting candidates knocked off the ballot.

It's only fair, says Rob Sherman, of Buffalo Grove, who ran for state representative in 2006, but lost in the Democratic primary and was thus ineligible to run in the following November election for the same office with a different political party.

"It wouldn't be fair to me," Sherman said. "These guys shouldn't be able to get on the ballot."

In the middle of June, Sherman, who is a also Green Party committeeman for Wheeling Township, began looking into the validity of various candidates' nominating petitions, filing objections against five different candidates running for statewide offices, he said.

Eight weeks later, the State Board of Elections sustained each of his objections.

Sherman, who calls himself an "instigator, not a litigator" says much of the work was processed by a Green Party election law attorney.

While he didn't pay legal fees for the efforts, Sherman said the challenges "cost me a lot of time. Cost me a lot of money for the process. Which means going back and forth to Springfield for court hearings, hearings with the State Board of Elections, in the circuit court downtown."

Sherman first challenged perennial candidate Andy Martin's bid for U.S. Senate because Martin had originally run for the seat in the Republican primary and lost before filing as a Reform Party candidate on the November ballot.

Provisions in the Illinois Election Code prohibit candidates who lose in one party's primary from running in the general election as a member of a different party.

The Board of Elections sustained Sherman's objection and removed Martin from the ballot Aug. 27.

Sherman challenged Practical Party candidate for Senate Carl Officer because state law mandates a new political party must submit a full slate of candidates, which he said Officer did not do. Officer was removed from the ballot Aug. 17th.

Sherman challenged independent governor candidates Greg Moore and Steven Estill, saying each man failed to nominate two different individuals for governor and lieutenant governor on his petitions. Sherman also said neither man had collected enough signatures.

Independent Conservative candidate Christopher Pedersen filed to run for U.S. senator, governor, lieutenant governor, attorney general, secretary of state, comptroller, treasurer, state senator and state representative. Sherman said he challenged many of those nominating petitions on the grounds that state law prohibits candidates from running for "incompatible offices" - multiple offices that you can't serve in simultaneously. Moore, Estill and Pedersen were also taken off the ballot Aug. 17th.

"This isn't a situation where someone misnumbered the pages. What I challenged were significant issues," Sherman said.

In July, Martin sued Sherman, among others, over the issue. According to his blog, he said he was seeking "to end the practice by Illinois politicians of using "straw men" and corrupt attorneys to file 'objections' to candidate petitions while concealing the identity of the person actually orchestrating the objection process and paying the legal bills."

The case was thrown out by seventh circuit court Judge Peter Cavanaugh.