If David Orr wants one thing, it’s a quick and painless resolution to the challenges filed against candidates running for positions in Cook County.
With 24 challenges in the county, and more than 90 for other races filtered through the Cook County Clerk’s office, it means hours and hours of menial work for his staff.
They’ll have to cross-reference thousands of names in voter databases against signed petitions.
They must verify the existence of voters, combing through stacks of petitions that number in the tens of thousands, and they’ll ensure candidates had enough signatures.
“The key for us,” Orr says, “is we don’t have a lot of time.”
Ballots must be printed by Dec. 14, Orr says.
Some candidates have been informed of why their petitions were challenged, and other notifications went in the mail yesterday. A three-person board will start hearing challenges Monday, Orr says.
The number of petitions this year is similar to previous ones, Orr says.
The highest profile challenges are of petitions filed by Cook County Board President Todd Stroger and one of his opponents, Clerk of Courts Dorothy Brown. Both challenges allege some signatures are fraudulent.
“That issue beomces more like a question of fact, and it may or may not lead to a petition challenge,” Orr says.
If the hearing board rules against a candidate, the candidate may challenge the verdict in circuit court. If the court rules against the candidate, the candidate may then appeal that ruling.
Orr says court cases can extend well beyond the point at which he needs to print ballots.
“The last thing we want is for this to get tied up in the courts,” he says.
He's pushing for legislation that would give the Clerk’s office more time to process ballots.
Windy Citizen 