County elections officials have kicked the would-be Libertarian candidate for the state house seat representing Evanston off the ballot, leaving Democrat Robyn Gabel, unopposed in November’s election.
Funk says his only options now are to file a court challenge, which he’s not sure he has to money to pay for, or run as a write-in candidate.
County elections officials have kicked the would-be Libertarian candidate for the state house seat representing Evanston off the ballot, leaving Democrat Robyn Gabel, unopposed in November’s election.
Funk says his only options now are to file a court challenge, which he’s not sure he has to money to pay for, or run as a write-in candidate.
If he does challenge the ruling in court, Funk says he’ll argue that the state law, which requires independent and new party candidates to get several times the petition signatures required of major party candidates, is vague in its requirements — and that instead of the vote for president in the last election, the vote for the office that a candidate is seeking should be the measure of the number of petition signatures required.
In that case, he says, the number of petition signatures required would drop from 2,561 to 1,980 — and he has 2,214 signatures still considered valid after the administrative hearings.
Funk initially filed about 3,300 signatures and the effort to oust him from the ballot was launched by a Gabel supporter, despite Gabel’s stated position in favor of repealing the disparate petition requirements.
Funk says the results of today’s decision by the county election panel won’t be formally issued for another week or two, and were Gabel to persuade her supporters to withdraw the challenge between now and then he’d still be able to appear on the ballot.
Hooray for democracy!
Surely the presence of an unimposed candidate is a sign of a healthy democracy. Thanks Susan Greene for ensuring that voters have no alternative to the corporatist candidate. Now the lobbyists and special interests such as Ms. Greene can breath easier knowing that they can continue to pull the strings of their purchased public officials. Public funds and favorable legislation will continue to be steered in their direction unabated, at the expense of the taxpaying public. I love this country!