Details on West petition objection
West, a rapper and entrepreneur, turned in over 4,000 signatures just before the deadline Monday. However, he will have to face two upcoming objection hearings before the election board body soon. The first objection group to West’s petitions comes from Sean Tenner, Steve Spagnolo, Charles Morris, and Denise Bradley of Chicago and Mitchell Johnson of South Holland. The other objection filing is from Antonette Smith, whose address was unknown, probably due to a redaction request. West’s team made the filing without the inclusion of a vice-presidential candidate but usually isn’t an objectionable offense.Pellegrini also faces petition objection
Also facing a petition objection is Ruth Pellegrini of Steger, who is running as an independent in Congressional District 1. Devin Jones and Valerie Adams of Chicago are filing objections to Pellegrini’s petition. The reason for the objection is unknown as of press time.Insight on ballot access laws in Illinois
However, the full-slate requirement was abolished in the Land of Lincoln following a landmark 2016 decision in Libertarian Party of Illinois v. Illinois State Board of Elections, 164 F.Supp.3d 1023 (N.D. Ill. 2016). So it’s highly likely the campaign team for West knew this decision, as well as this year’s Libertarian Party of Illinois v. Pritzker 1:20-cv-02112 (N.D. Ill. 2020) decision. What could be a contributor to why the petitions are facing a challenge could be the last-minute gathering, as petitioners were spotted collecting signatures in Springfield on filing day. Usually, this results in some rushed signatures with invalid voter information. The petition objection period kicked off earlier this week and will end at 5 p.m. on Monday.For more Illinois political news, follow Jake Leonard @JakeLeonardWPMD, Ben Cox @Cox4Liberty and Heartland Newsfeed @HLNF_Bulletin on Twitter. Additionally, you can follow Heartland Newsfeed on Facebook and Reddit among other platforms.
Jake Leonard, a broadcast media and journalism veteran, is the editor-in-chief of Heartland Newsfeed. Leonard is also GM and program director of Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, wrestling editor and contributing writer for Ambush Sports, a contributing writer for My Sports Vote and Midwest Sports Network, and a former contributor to Bleacher Report and Overtime Heroics. He resides at home in Nokomis, Ill. with his dog Buster.