A state appellate court is considering an appeal of a referendum question which proponents hope will be on the Nov. 3 ballot in Oak Park.
The appeal relates to an already upheld Oak Park electoral board decision regarding an overruled objection of an advisory referendum question.
The objection to the question, “Should the state of Illinois repeal laws that ban state investment in businesses that boycott the state of Israel?” was overruled last month by a board consisting of President Vicki Scaman and Trustees James Taglia and Chibuike Enyia. That decision was upheld earlier this month by Cook County Circuit Court Judge Viviana Martinez.
Justice Aurelia Pucinski of the First Judicial District of the Appellate Court of Illinois is considering the matter this week and has granted expedited review.
Attorney Michael Kasper of the Chicago government-relations law firm Kasper, Holmes & Dring, representing referendum question objectors Alan H. Peres and Piergiorgio Uslenghi, appealed Martinez’s decision Sept. 25.
According to Jesse Bauer of Oak Parkers for Free Speech, which brought forth the referendum question originally, a decision from Pucinski may come as soon as next week.
Kasper added that the ETA would be “no sooner than next week.”
Late last month, the electoral board overruled the objectors’ appeal 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 Wednesday Journal post-hearing.
Oak Parkers for Free Speech recently launched a Facebook page and a video regarding the issue, and Bauer said it is planning to host events in support of the referendum.
That includes an informational event about the referendum question from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. Wednesday at The Beer Shop, 1023 Lake St., Oak Park.