The candidacy of nearly all the contenders in the 28th Ward and several in the 29th Ward contest remain in doubt as hearings continue Wednesday, Dec. 8 to determine who will qualify for the Feb. 22 ballot.
Hearings there will continue well into next week before officials certify the list of people who will challenge incumbent Ald. Deborah Graham in the 29th Ward as well as who will run in Ward 28, where Ald. Ed Smith served until retiring last week. The ballot will be finalized on Dec. 23, which coincidentally is the last day for candidates to withdraw their names from consideration.
Challenges to candidates in the 37th Ward were withdrawn after the first hearings held by the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, while decisions are pending in matters involving 29th Ward candidates Bernard Cobbins Jr. and Curtis Myles.
As of Tuesday, none of the challenged candidates had been removed from the ballot. Objections had to be filed by Nov. 30. All decisions will be posted on the board’s Web site.
The only unchallenged candidate in the 28th Ward was William Siegmund. Credentials are being reviewed for: David J. Young, Michael A. (Mike) Stinson, Carol G. Johnson, Jason C. Ervin, James Ogden, Erick Von Kondrat, Velda Brunner, Shawn A. Walker and Carmelita P. Earls.
Of the 13 candidates filing in the 29th Ward, Ald. Graham, C.B. Johnson, Thomas E. Simmons, Mary Russell Gardner, Jill R. Bush and Roman Morrow remain unchallenged. Besides Cobbins and Myles, contenders in doubt include: Sheneather “Shey” Butler, Eugene Greer, Marshall E. Hatch Sr., Oddis “O.J.” Johnson and Beverly D. Rogers.
In the 37th Ward, the candidates are: Ald. Mitts, Marietta Brown-Miller, Minerva V. Orozco, Steven E. Pleasant, Tommy O. Abina and Shanika J. Finley.
In examining the challenges, a variety of reasons surfaced.
Some were as simple as not numbering the pages of the petitions submitted to the election board. Other claims included candidates not getting enough valid signatures to qualify because some were forged, the people who signed petitions were not registered to vote or did not live in the ward, or some people signed a petition twice or signed the petitions for more than one candidate running in the same contest.
In the 28th and 37 th wards, a candidate had to collect 152 signatures to qualify for the ballot; in the 29th Ward, a candidate had to collect 157. Those figures were based on 2 percent of the total number of votes cast in that aldermanic race in 2007.
Other reasons candidates’ petitions were challenged involved discrepancies related to the people who circulated nominating petitions.
Challengers claimed that the circulators were too young to pass around petitions (you have to be at least 18 and a citizen of the United States, according to the Illinois State Board of Elections; they did not live at the address they marked down; or they did not witness the signing of the petitions.
There also were challenges over who had notarized some of the petitions.
Challengers also asserted that some candidates should be removed from the ballot because they owed money to Chicago, in violation of state law, while others failed to provide a receipt for the statement of economic interest, which is required when candidates file their nominating papers.
Hearings are held at 69 W. Washington St.
Schedule for 28th Ward hearings (listed by candidate and by date):
Carmelita P. Earls objects to Velda Brunner (11-EB-ALD-108); hearing 11 a.m. 12/8/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Velda Brunner (11-EB-ALD-159); hearing 11 a.m. 12/8/10
Wallace Davis Jr. and Carmelita P. Earls object to Jason C. Ervin (11-EB-ALD-109); hearing 11 a.m. 12/9/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to David J. Young (11-EB-ALD-155); hearing 11 a.m. 12/9/10
Shawn A. Walker objects to David J. Young (11-EB-ALD-191); hearing 11 a.m. 12/9/10
Carmelita P. Earls objects to Michael A. Stinson (11-EB-ALD-111); hearing 9:30 a.m. 12/11/10
Carmelita P. Earls objects to Shawn A. Walker (11-EB-ALD-112); hearing 11:30 a.m.
12/11/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Shawn A. Walker (11-EB-ALD-157); hearing 11:30 a.m. 12/11/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Michael A. (Mike) Stinson (11-EB-ALD-153); hearing 11:40 a.m. 12/11/10
Carmelita P. Earls objects to Carol G. Johnson (11-EB-ALD-110); hearing 11:30 a.m. 12/13/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Carol G. Johnson (11-EB-ALD-158); hearing 11:30 a.m. 12/13/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Carmelita P. Earls (11-EB-ALD-160); hearing 1:30 p.m. 12/13/10
Eileen E. Jackson objects to Erick Von Kondrat (11-EB-ALD-154); hearing 2 p.m. 12/16/10
Schedule for 29th Ward hearings (listed by candidate and by date):
Victoria Prewitt objects to Beverly D. Rogers (11-EB-ALD-258); hearing 2:30 p.m. 12/10/10
Marshall Addison objects to Marshall E. Hatch Sr. (11-EB-ALD-106); hearing 9 a.m.
12/13/10
Thomas C. Bush objects to Marshall E. Hatch (11-EB-ALD-131); hearing 10 a.m. 12/13/10
Victoria Prewitt objects to Marshall E. Hatch (11-EB-ALD-257); hearing 10 a.m. 12/13/10
Rudolph W. Haley objects to Sheneather “Shey” Butler (11-EB-ALD-184); hearing 3 p.m. 12/13/10
Thomas C. Bush objects to Sheneather “Shey” Butler (11-EB-ALD-129); hearing 3:30 p.m. 12/13/10
Victoria Prewitt objects to Sheneather “Shey” Butler (11-EB-ALD-256); hearing 4 p.m. 12/14/10
Thomas C. Bush objects to Eugene Greer (11-EB-ALD-133); hearing 2:30 p.m. 12/14/10
Rudolph W. Haley objects to Eugene Greer (11-EB-ALD-182); hearing 2:30 p.m. 12/14/10
Victoria Prewitt objects to Eugene Greer (11-EB-ALD-220); hearing 2:30 p.m. 12/14/10
Thomas C. Bush objects to Oddis O.J. Johnson (11-EB-ALD-135); hearing 3 p.m. 12/14/10
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