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Source: Ballot Access News

Nomination for Mayor of Chicago requires collecting at least 12,500 valid signatures from registered voters in the City of Chicago. The deadline for filing signatures is November 22nd.

Last year, Free & Equal Inc. collected signatures for 14 candidates running in the primary for various offices in the State of Illinois. Of those, nine survived the notoriously corrupt challenge process, four did not, and one withdrew to run as an independent.

Free & Equal Inc.’s sister organization, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation, is working to replace the outdated, confusing and arbitrary challenge process with a $500 filing fee in lieu of signatures. Filing fees are used successfully in many states, generating revenue rather than draining public coffers with labor-intensive petition reviews and challenges. At least one Illinois state legislator has expressed interest in sponsoring such a bill.

Monica Rucker was not hired by Norwood’s campaign or by Free and Equal Inc. At no time did Free and Equal Inc. have a contract or any agreement to pay Monica Rucker for signatures related to the Mary Norwood campaign. Any reports contrary to this are incorrect.

Monica Rucker apparently communicated with a paid petitioner from Free and Equal Inc. to get signatures in coordination with that paid petitioner. Free and Equal Inc. had no knowledge of that situation until after Monica Rucker went public.

Monica Rucker’s petitions were presented to Free and Equal Inc. and inspected as part of our standard procedures to ensure integrity. Monica Rucker’s signatures were found to be fraught with problems and showed a potential pattern of fraud. Those petition sheets were rejected and were not used toward Mary Norwood’s campaign. Free and Equal Inc. does not accept, pay for or use petition signatures like Monica Rucker’s that have such obvious problems. Free and Equal Inc. is submitting her signatures to the appropriate elections authorities for investigation and will fully cooperate with any of their efforts.

Monica Rucker is crying to the media and making threats in an attempt to get paid for petition signatures that did not meet basic standards. That behavior is unacceptable and Free and Equal Inc. will always stand up to rogue individuals like this to ensure the integrity of the election process, Tobin said.

Free and Equal Inc. has established itself as an industry leader for being honest, ethical and transparent. People like Monica Rucker wishing to make money from bogus signatures always creep in to the petitioning industry. Free and Equal Inc. is wholeheartedly dedicated to the integrity of our business and cleaning up this industry from people like Monica Rucker who do not respect the ballot access process, Tobin said.

Free and Equal, Inc., always works as closely as possible with government authorities and other organizations seeking to improve the petitioning process wherever we work. Many states are badly in need of election reforms to help safeguard against situations exactly like this in the future. Free and Equal Inc. is committed to following all proper petitioning procedures. Free and Equal Inc. will continue to work tirelessly for reforms that protect the election process from these types of fraud.

The debate will take place in the Cordell Reed Student Union Building of Chicago State University, located at 9501 S. King Drive in Chicago, IL. Sponsoring the debate will be the Student Government Association, African American Male Resource Center, Latino Resource Center, and Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Incorporated.

Bill Brady (Republican Party), Scott Cohen (Independent), Lex Green (Libertarian Party), Pat Quinn (Democratic Party), William Walls III (Independent), Michael White (Constitution Party), and Rich Whitney (Green Party) have all been invited to share their message with Illinois voters.

Free & Equal is committed to giving all qualified candidates an equal voice in the debate. All invited candidates recently submitted petitions sufficient to qualify for the ballot.

“Until recently, Illinois has not seen a truly inclusive debate since Libertarian Robin Miller joined Al Salvi (R) and Dick Durbin (D) for a three way debate for U.S. Senate in 1996,” said Free & Equal Founder and Chair Christina Tobin. “Salvi and Durbin were brave enough to face a bigger and broader debate. I challenge Pat Quinn and Bill Brady to live up to their example, show some backbone and debate all serious contenders.

“Article III, Section 3 of the Illinois Constitution says ‘All Elections Shall Be Free And Equal’. Whoever is elected Governor will take an oath to uphold that Constitution, and we expect them to live up to that core principle of democracy starting today,” continued Tobin. “Illinois needs new and diverse ideas today more than ever.”

The Green Party was knocked off the ballot by the Democratic Party in 2002. This is the first time the Green Party has achieved ballot access since 2002.

The State of Texas maintains one of the nation’s most restrictive ballot access policies. Currently, a political party seeking a place on the ballot must gather 43,991 valid signatures before the Secretary of State recognize it as an official political party.

To further complicate the process, Texas requires that signatures be gathered during a very narrow time period of 75 days, and only registered voters who did not vote in the primary are eligible to sign. This “primary screen-out” provision is exclusive to Texas. All other states that previously had this provision have declared it unconstitutional. WHEN Monday, May 24, 2:00 p.m. – signatures will be turned in immediately after the press conference WHERE Outside the Secretary of State’s office, Rusk Building
208 East 10th Street, 3rd Floor, Austin WHO Kat Swift
Statewide Coordinator, Green Party of Texas
Candidate for County Commissioner, Pct 2, Bexar County

Christina Tobin
Founder and Chair, The Free and Equal Elections Foundation
Founder and CEO, Free and Equal Inc.
Candidate for California Secretary of State

CONTACTS

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This photo and editorial was published in the Southtown Star.

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