A Will County judge may decide Friday whether a candidate kicked off the April 1 ballot for failing to pay campaign fines owed to the Illinois State Board of Elections should be reinstated by Will County Clerk Annette Parker.
Burt Odelson, an attorney for Joliet Township supervisor candidate Cesar Guerrero, said Guerrero has paid back $6,550 in penalties from the Illinois State Board of Elections, and is no longer on the ballot forfeiture list. Odelson said Democratic precinct committee persons have nominated Guerrero to fill the vacancy caused when he was removed from the ballot, but Parker has not accepted that nomination.
Odelson asked Will County Judge Victoria Breslan for a temporary restraining order Thursday to reinstate Guerrero’s name on the ballot until a permanent decision is reached.
“This is an extremely urgent matter,” Odelson said, adding that not being on the ballot is costing valuable time to campaign and raise funds.
Candidates on the ballot forfeiture list are not allowed to be placed on the ballot under state law.
Parker, with advice from the Will County state’s attorney’s office, removed four candidates from the April 1 ballot for failing to pay their state fines. Guerrero as well as Kevin “Kollins” Hedemark,” a candidate for Lockport Township highway commissioner, Giovanni Santana, an aldermanic candidate in Aurora’s 9th Ward, and Peter Adamson, a candidate for Plainfield trustee, were taken off the ballot.
Guerrero is the only candidate who has filed a lawsuit against Parker.
Santana said in an email Thursday he is still pursuing his candidacy and resolved his problems with the state earlier this week. He said in the email he plans to reach out to the three counties that comprise the 9th Ward.
County clerks in DuPage and Kendall counties do not include Santana’s candidacy on their election pages while Will County’s election page indicates he name has been removed.
“Next actions will be dependent on the responses received from the respective counties,” Santana wrote. “I would hope it wouldn’t have to resort to a lawsuit.”
State Board of Elections spokesman Matt Dietrich confirmed Santana paid his fine Wednesday.
Lockport Township Democratic precinct committee persons earlier this month passed a resolution nominating Hedemark to the position after he paid fines owed to the state board of elections. Hedemark has not filed a lawsuit asking to be reinstated.
Scott Pyles, an assistant state’s attorney representing Parker, said deadlines are important for the county clerk to prepare the ballots for early voting, mail-in voting and the consolidated election.
Pyles said Guerrero received a letter Oct. 29 from the Illinois State Board of Elections warning him if his unpaid fines were not settled by Jan. 23, the certification date, he could not appear on the ballot. The state sent other notifications in previous years regarding unpaid fines, Pyles said.
Despite the letter, the Democratic caucus nominated Guerrero for supervisor on Dec. 3, and he signed a statement of candidacy saying he was eligible when he wasn’t, Pyles said.
“The state’s attorney has no interest who is on the ballot; we are here to enforce the election code,” Pyles said.
Guerrero paid his fine a week after the certification date, Pyles said.
Pyles said if the clerk’s office made an exception in one case, it affects all future elections and would be an ongoing problem of candidates trying to be reinstated to the ballot at various times. It would also reward Guerrero for not following election timelines, he said.
“These deadlines have to be followed,” he said.
Odelson argued precinct committee persons could fill a vacancy within eight days. Since Guerrero received notice Jan. 29 that he was removed from the ballot, he was within the window for the precinct committee persons to meet and nominate a candidate for supervisor.
Pyles said the email notifying Guerrero of a vacancy was a courtesy and not required by law. The vacancy occurred on the certification date of Jan. 23, giving the candidates until Jan. 31 to fill the vacancy.
Breslan is expected to render her decision Friday.
Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown.
