Oops
Thursday, Mar 8, 2007 - Posted by Rich Miller
The leader of the “Illinois Democracy Project” goofed in a big way and just sent this “Urgent recall order” out to editors. The group is hoping to amend the Illinois Constitution to require state legislation to have a 21-day review period before lawmakers can approve it….
Hundreds, perhaps thousands, of Illinois citizens supporting the Illinois Democracy Project are now asking their families, neighbors and acquaintances to sign petitions to put the “Show Us Amendment†on the statewide ballot for the elections to be held in November of 2008.
THE PETITION SHEETS ARE FLAWED AND SHOULD NOT BE CIRCULATED. […]
What was the flaw? The petition forms originally posted at the web site – and distributed to Illinois PTA chapters throughout the state – incorrectly reflected the election date as November 11, 2008. The correct date for the election is November 4, 2008. […]
How did this error occur? “It was entirely my fault,†Project Chairman Jim Broadway said Thursday. […]
“Everyone had a right to assume I was at least smart enough to know the correct date. Now that they know better, they have every right to impeach me.
“I deeply regret my error and apologize to everyone who has been out circulating this flawed petition form…”
Too funny.
- Capt. Obvious - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 11:22 am:
Perhaps Broadway and his band can vote on the 11th and the rest of us on the 4th. Leave the petitions alone
- Frank Booth - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 11:44 am:
See, if we’d just have passed HB750 decades ago Jim would have received a more equitable education and would have in fact been smart enough to get the dates right.
The current education system is dooming millions of Illinois school children to a similar fate.
- tim b - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 11:50 am:
Maybe they should have used a 21-day review period on the petition before they sent it out so they could know what they were distributing!
- A Citizen - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 12:17 pm:
I wonder if we should trust someone who is honest enough to admit his mistake and take 100% of the responsibility.
- Nick Kasoff - The Thug Report - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 12:21 pm:
Seems like the Democrats should all support this. After all, if you can have a waiting period on handgun purchases, you certainly should have a waiting period on legislation. In fact, come to think of it, don’t many of them want to limit purchase of high powered weapons, and limit people to one gun a month? Hmmmm …
Nick Kasoff
The Thug Report
- Stuck with Sen. CPA - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 12:41 pm:
Clearly, Jim Broadway isn’t ready for the big stage in politics - despite his name.
- GOPer - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 12:44 pm:
It’s very, very refreshing to see anyone in this game step-up and take personal responsibility for a mistake. This issue doesn’t get me all that excited, personally. But I would be more inclined to take a look now.
- Stateelm - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 1:32 pm:
WOW. Someone in politics takes the credit for a mixup. That’s the news, not the mixup.
- North by Northwest - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 1:57 pm:
Stupid, but give the guy credit for fessing up!
- Squideshi - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 3:43 pm:
The wrong election date on such a petition is only fatal if the statutory provision requiring the date is mandatory rather than directory. Mandatory provisions require strict compliance but substantial compliance is sufficient for directory provisions. You can tell if a provision is mandatory by looking to see if the statute also indicates the consequence of failing to comply with the requirement–if it does, the provision is mandatory. Substantial compliance can be achieved even with the wrong election, as long as what what intended can reasonably be determined by looking at the petition as a whole.
That having been said, with the amount of signatures that will need to be collected, I would want the correct date on my petitions.
- Squideshi - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 4:06 pm:
Incidentally, the membership of the Illinois Green Party endorsed this amendment, by consensus, at its annual statewide membership meeting in Normal, this past weekend.
- fedup dem - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 4:11 pm:
Apparently none of these political amateurs involved in this screwy idea has ever served in our military. Had they served, they would have realized that November 11 is VETERANS’ DAY, not Election Day!
- Huh? - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 6:46 pm:
What’s the big deal? The guy found his mistake, he admitted it, he fixed it, so let the guy move on.
- Anonymous - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 9:56 pm:
Nothing funny about this. It is a sad commentary about Illinois democracy and the project to create it. What a waste of time of time all the way around.
- Larry Mulholland - Thursday, Mar 8, 07 @ 10:29 pm:
Admirable that he shoulders the responsibility.
He clearly has not read Blago play book. Is there a drunken legislator or a lazy holdover state worker he can blame?