Kane County election petition challenges under way
Angela Clay Thomas will likely remain on the Democratic primary ballot, challenging incumbent Kane County District 4 board member Brian Pollock.
But whether John Shoemaker will survive a challenge to 256 signatures on his petition in the county coroner's race remains to be seen.
The Kane County electoral board Monday denied objections to Thomas' petitions. The objector did not attend the hearing, and Pollock said he had asked the objector to stop objecting.
The board will vote on a motion to dismiss the case Friday.
The board will resume a hearing for objections to Barbara Hernandez' petitions Friday. Hernandez is running for the Democratic nomination for Kane County Board District 8 against Maggie Ferguson. Ferguson has objected to the signatures or addresses of nine of the 19 people who signed Hernandez's petitions.
Ferguson's attorney, Juan Thomas, argued Monday that two are invalid, because they don't live in the district. Hernandez needs at least 15 valid signatures to stay on the ballot.
Thomas argued the other signatures did not match what was on the signers' voter registration applications on file with the Aurora Election Commission. One man signed only an initial for his last name; one woman left out her middle initial, and used her married name; another left out her middle initial; and three printed their names on the petitions, instead of writing in cursive.
Pollock, Hernandez's attorney, presented affidavits from all the signers swearing that they had signed the petitions. Thomas objected for several reasons, including that one signature on an affidavit did not match the signature on the petition.
"The signature you used when you registered to vote at 18 probably doesn't match now," Pollock told electoral board members Joe McMahon, Suzanne Fahnestock and Thomas Hartwell. McMahon is the county state's attorney, Fahnestock is the county's elections director, and Hartwell is the Kane County circuit court clerk.
"Your signature should be substantially similar within a month," Thomas countered.
The electoral board was due to review the signatures on Shoemaker's petition Monday afternoon.