A 2-1 decision by a village of Oak Park electoral board Aug. 24 to overrule an objection to an advisory referendum question for the Nov. 3 ballot has been appealed.
The objection from Oak Park residents Alan H. Peres and Piergiorgio Uslenghi to the question, “Should the state of Illinois repeal laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott the state of Israel?” was overruled by the board consisting of president Vicki Scaman and trustees James Taglia and Chibuike Enyia. Scaman and Enyia voted to overrule the objection.
Attorney Michael Kasper of the Chicago government-relations law firm Kasper, Holmes & Dring filed a Petition for Judicial Review of an Electoral Board decision in Cook County circuit court Aug. 25.
In addition to judicial review, the appeal requests the court reverse the electoral board’s decision; rule the referendum petitions invalid; and order the referendum question not appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.
Pending legal procedures and protocol, including a Kasper request to expedite, a hearing on the matter will be held Sept. 11 in the courtroom of Judge Viviana Martinez.
Jesse Bauer, of Oak Parkers for Free Speech, which carried out the petition process, said Aug. 26 that a hearing with that organization’s attorney, Scott Erdman, Kasper and the judge was scheduled for Aug. 27. That’s the day by which the village was mandated to send its Nov. 3 ballot to the county board of elections for printing. That meeting led to the scheduling of the Sept. 11 hearing.
For now, the question remains on the ballot, which was confirmed by a village spokesperson, who said village clerk Christina Waters has certified the ballot since there would not be a resolution of the appeal prior to Thursday.
The spokesperson added that if the court overturns the electoral board’s decision, “it is up to the county election department to determine how to handle the change. How the county would handle it likely largely depends on how close to the election the court decision gets made.”
Bauer said Oak Parkers for Free Speech is moving forward despite the appeal.
“We’re going to defend ourselves, but this is on the ballot and we’re moving into the campaign phase,” he said.
That phase will include study on the overall statewide effort regarding the issue and ultimately, public education ahead of the election.
After Waters was disqualified from the electoral board Monday, and was replaced by Enyia, Enyia ultimately cast the deciding vote to overrule the Kasper’s argument that “the circulators’ affidavit did not include an explicit certification that the signatures are ‘genuine,’” i.e., actual use of that specific language, according to the board’s findings and decisions document made available to the Wednesday Journal post-hearing.
As far as the result of the appeal, Bauer said he feels good about it.
“I had a chance to read up on the case law,” he said. “It’s pretty clear that this is a very minor scrivener’s error. It doesn’t look like a good reason to disenfranchise 3,500 voters and the electorate as a whole.”