Squashing the Green Bug

by Cal Skinner

My son has morphed from a 7-year old, “Dad, take the bug outside” type of guy to an 11-year old “I'll help you get rid of the ants, Mom” type of kid.

That probably led to the title of this article.

You see, the Illinois power parties are in the process of limiting electoral competition again.

It wasn't bad enough that write-ins have to register with the county clerk 60 days before the election. (That's before anyone but an insider even knows there is a possibility of winning a write-in for an office for which there is no candidate on the ballot.)

Now, Republicans and Democrats are so insecure that they want to further limit the Green Party from slating candidates.

And the Illinois Green Party, the only third party in Illinois with official party slating status, has noticed this incumbent protection bill.

Here's part of the email I received before the Senate Elections Committee voted 8-1 to shoot the bill out onto the Senate floor for certain passage:

“House Bill 723...would protect Illinois' incumbents by effectively ending the practice of slating, which will almost certainly decrease the number of competitive elections in Illinois.

"'Legislators in Illinois have an aversion to having someone run against them,' said Dan Kairis, of Elgin, who himself was slated in 2008 to run for State Representative, 55th district.

“'Rather than accept competitive elections as a necessary function of a democratic system, here we have legislators who want to avoid facing any competition in the future.'

“Kairis and other Illinois Green Party members will be attending the hearing to voice opposition to the bill. The ILGP is urging its members and anyone else interested in bringing democratic reforms to Illinois to call their state senators and tell them to vote NO on HB 723.

“To slate a candidate under current law, leaders of an established party meet and choose a candidate, based on a weighted vote.

“Slating can occur after the primary election if no candidate was nominated in the primary, or if the nominated candidate drops out or passes away.

“Currently, the three 'established' parties in Illinois who can slate candidates are the Greens, Democrats and Republicans.”

“If HB 723 passes, the process to fill vacancies in nomination would be become much more difficult, complicated and resource intensive.

“Candidates would not only have to seek the approval of party leaders, but they would also have to collect a massive amount of signatures in a short time frame.

“The additional requirements would also create more paperwork, which leaves candidates even more vulnerable to filing challenges that could keep them off the ballot.

“In fact, HB 723 would make running as an independent or creating a new party a much simpler an alternative for a candidate than running on an established party ticket.

“Despite the availability of the current slating option, in the November 2008 general election, 59 of 118 Illinois House seats and 20 of 40 Illinois Senate seats went unopposed in the general election.

"Even though half of all legislative seats go uncontested anyway, HB 723 will ensure there are many more uncontested races," said Steve Alesch, co-chair of the DuPage County Green Party, which slated a number of candidates in 2008, including an opponent to Rep. Mike Fortner (R-95th), the bill's chief sponsor in the House.

"This will have a chilling effect on democracy."

"With the scandals of Govs. Ryan and Blagojevich not far behind us, the citizens of Illinois are demanding reforms that would reduce the unchecked power of our elected officials," said Tom Abram, of Urbana, member of the Illinois Green Party coordinating committee.

"This bill is the exact opposite of reform, and it would only further erode the public's trust and confidence in our electoral system."

“The bill passed the House earlier in April with a 112-4 vote. “

Sponsored by first term western DuPage County State Representative Mike Fortner (95th District), House Bill 723 is an attempt to prevent a Green Party candidate from challenging him again in 2010.

Is that a classic conflict of interest and admission of vulnerability or what?

Fortner, who beat Green Party candidate Gerard Schmitt 32,257 to 10,024 last year, obviously doesn't want to bother with a fall election. Hard to take a fall vacation when one has an opponent.

And the DuPage County Republican Party doesn't want the possibility of a Green Party candidate running for

• county board, as occurred in McHenry County when Frank Wedig ran in the Woodstock-Huntley-Lake in the Hills district last year (getting 8% of the vote, while the lowest winner received 28%) or


• township office, as happened this year when door knocking Wedig ran only 158 votes behind the lowest Republican for Dorr Township Trustee.
  

The proposed maintain-the-power-party franchise language is below:

a vacancy in nomination shall be 8 filled only by a person designated by the appropriate committee of the political party

1. whose name is submitted by that committee to the State Board of Elections within 60 days after the day of the general primary and


2. who files nominating petitions with the number of signatures, and at the time, required for an independent candidate for that office under Article 10.

The circulation period for those petitions begins on the day the State Board of Elections receives from the committee the notice of the person's name.

The State Board of Elections shall hear and pass upon all objections to nomination petitions filed by candidates under this paragraph.

Of course, the bill passed the State Senate Committee. By an 8-1 vote. Only Republican Senate Elections Committee Spokesman Dale Righter of Matoon voted against the competition limiting bill.

In the Illinois House, only Mike Boland (D-Moline), Beth Coulson (R-Glenview), Paul Froehlich (D-Schaumburg), Keith Sommer (R-Morton) opposed the bill. Oak Park Democrat Deborah Graham voted “Present,” which has the same effect as voting “No,” because bills need a majority to pass.

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The green bug above is used in advertising by Certified Master Arborist Wayne White. He specializes in saving ash trees from the Emerald Ash Borer, which is a plot by the Democratic Party, don't you know?

Posted first on McHenry County Blog.