Steve Funk, Libertarian candidate for 18th District State Representative, has filed the required paperwork to be an eligible write-in candidate in November’s general election.
“Voters in our district deserve an independent choice for State Representative,” Funk said in a news release. “For the third election cycle in a row, there will be only one candidate on the ballot to vote for to represent us in Springfield.”
“Citizens who share my support for a balanced budget without tax hikes or new debt, public pension reform for all state employees, health care freedom, school choice, and ballot access equality now have an option besides simply not voting for my opponent, Robyn Gabel.”
Gabel is the Democratic Party nominee and was appointed to the 18th District seat in April.
Funk was removed from the ballot by the Cook County Electoral Board after Susan Greene, a Gabel campaign contributor, filed an objection asserting that nearly half of Mr. Funk’s 3,300 petition signatures were invalid for various reasons, including “forgery.”
Funk filed an appeal in circuit court, but Judge Robert Bertucci sustained the Board’s ruling to keep him off the ballot.
“Hundreds of voters who signed my petition in good faith have been systematically disenfranchised by the so-called ‘Democratic’ Party’s flagrant abuse of our election laws to advance their own personal gain and remain unopposed in November,” Funk said.
The Cook County Clerk’s Office says voters can write in candidates on a paper ballot or a touch screen, and that votes for registered write-in candidates will be counted “as long as the election judges can determine a voter’s intent to select a specific write-in candidate.” The clerk’s office will provide a list of eligible write-in candidates to each precinct on Election Day.
“I am asking all concerned voters to help raise awareness about my write-in campaign by distributing flyers, writing letters to the editor, posting information online, and talking to their neighbors and co-workers,” Funk said.