Running mate disqualified
Tuesday, Jan 14, 2014 - Posted by Rich Miller
* Sun-Times…
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Tio Hardiman should be allowed to remain on the March 18 primary ballot but his running mate should be barred from having her name appear alongside his, a state hearing officer has determined.
That good news/bad news recommendation disclosed Tuesday by the State Board of Elections now awaits a ruling by the eight-member state election board perhaps as early as Thursday in a decision that could ultimately wind up in the courts.
The board’s chief legal counsel, Steve Sandvoss, also has to weigh in on the case. His recommendation along with that of hearing officer Barbara Goodman will be presented Thursday to the state board. […]
Donald did not meet the requirement of a state law that dictates lieutenant governor candidates be legally registered to vote, Goodman ruled.
Nobody really knows what will happen if Donald remains off the ballot. State law requires that a gubernatorial candidate file with a running mate, but the statute is silent on what happens if that running mate is kicked off the ballot, withdraws or dies. I see lots of court time in the future, which won’t be good news for Hardiman.
- Anonymous - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 11:46 am:
Seriously, if this was overlooked, he doesn’t deserve to be on the ballot.
- walker - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 11:50 am:
They are meant to be running as a “team”, and therefore they both stay or they both go.
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 11:55 am:
Assuming Hardiman wins the governorship, it seems feasible to then treat it as a vacancy in the office of Lite Guv and immediately follow established procedures for filling that vacancy.
More realistically, it seems highly unlikely many people would vote for a governor candidate who can’t even manage the task of having a running mate on the ballot.
That’s pretty much a basic screening test for candidates who want to sit in the Big Chair.
- CT - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:04 pm:
Good thing for Quinn residency requirements aren’t enforced in IL.
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:08 pm:
Has the legality of this requirement been challenged in court?
IIRC federal courts have invalidated requirements that circulators be registered.
And this is a little hard to reconcile with the ruling that Deb Mell being registered at a different address than the residence on her filing petition did not make her nominating petitions defective.
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:09 pm:
If the courts allow Hardiman to run w/o a running mate, perhaps future candidates will choose to run w/o a LtGov.
- Jeff Trigg - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:18 pm:
Filing fees, like 30 other states who have no problems with that ballot access system. Less time wasted in election boards and courts, lower governmental costs, and the added benefit of revenues. And with 60% + of the GA races going unopposed this century, more voters might actually have a choice on their ballots for once.
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:21 pm:
=== Donald had been registered at an earlier address but not at the residence on East 54th Street she listed on her statement of candidacy, Goodman said. ===
Apparently she should have moved to Connecticut instead of down the street.
- OneMan - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:28 pm:
== ssuming Hardiman wins the governorship, it seems feasible to then treat it as a vacancy in the office of Lite Guv and immediately follow established procedures for filling that vacancy. ==
The procedure for filling a vacancy in the Lt. Govs office is to leave it vacant if I am not mistaken…
- Carl Nyberg - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:30 pm:
Ballot access law has been abused in Illinois.
Trigg is right. Candidates should be able to buy ballot access insurance from the State of Illinois. Candidates would pay an amount, say $600. If there are no problems with their nominating petitions they get $500 back. If there are problems they forfeit the refund.
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:47 pm:
From Article V, Section 7 of the Illinois Constitution:
=== If the Lieutenant Governor fails to qualify or if his office becomes vacant, it shall remain vacant until the end of the term. ===
“Fails to qualify” would seem to solve this conundrum. If Hardiman wins and his Lieutenant Governor “fails to qualify” for the position, it’s apparently left vacant. Others, obviously, may interpret that differently.
Either way, the original legislation should have been thought through more thoroughly.
- Formerly Known As... - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 12:59 pm:
@Carl Nyberg & @Jeff Trigg - well said.
This position is not important enough to bother filling when vacant, but suddenly becomes important enough to kick a gov. candidate off the ballot?
There’s something wrong with that picture.
Especially if we care about encouraging an open and participatory system of government.
- Ahoy! - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 1:17 pm:
–I see lots of court time in the future, which won’t be good news for Hardiman.–
Unless he’s able to stick on the ballot, this might be the only press/air time the campaign gets.
- Joan P. - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 2:53 pm:
This situation makes it clear that this is a stupid law. It’s all very well to say that Hardiman should have vetted his running mate and discovered the problem, but what about something that candidates couldn’t know about, and over which they’d have no control? Like a sudden heart attack.
I wonder if there’s anything in the legislative history about that? It would be surprising if the possibility of a running mate dying hadn’t been considered, though you’d think it would have been specifically addressed in the legislation.
- titan - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 3:03 pm:
Joan P. @ 2:53 pm
There is a qualitative difference between having a running mate die (after having submitted a valid petition) and not having the ‘team’ file a fully valid petition to begin with.
There’s a much stronger argument for letting the party fill the vacancy in the case of a death after the ‘team’ filed a valid petition.
In the present case, the battle is over whether the ‘team’ filed a valid petition to begin with.
- Joan P. - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 4:45 pm:
@ titan -
Yes, I realize that. But the statute doesn’t seem to differentiate between the two situations (or other situations where the running mate is off the ballot for reasons that could not be anticipated). I’d have thought that it would.
- Just The Way It Is One - Tuesday, Jan 14, 14 @ 5:57 pm:
Oh well–I guess this means Vallas at least is a shoe-in as the Lite Guv Nominee come this March for the Dem. Primary–that is, of course, if he’s bothered to return here from ConNECTICUT by then…!!!