Election ballot process causing confusion
COOK COUNTY (February 22, 2018)–Cook County Assessor candidate Fritz Kaegi’s campaign responded to the Cook County Clerk’s decision that early vote ballots must include former candidate Andrea Raila’s name while her appeal of the Cook County Electoral Board’s ruling that she be removed from the ballot is pending. Following is a statement from Kaegi campaign manager Rebecca Reynolds:
“The Electoral Board ruled that Andrea Raila should be removed from the ballot due to an unprecedented level of fraud perpetrated by the candidate herself. Thus, she is not at present a candidate, whether her name appears on some ballots or not.
“Raila has slow-walked her appeal filing in Circuit Court, in a clear attempt to drag out the process and further mislead voters and subvert the democratic process.
“Further, instead of filing her brief at the same time as she filed her notice of appeal, Raila asked for what can charitably be described as a leisurely briefing schedule with the Court. Her lawyers will file an initial brief on Friday, more than a week after the Electoral Board’s decision. Following that brief, the judge scheduled a hearing on March 2nd, two weeks after the Electoral Board gave their final ruling.
“The only person who benefits from Raila’s actions is Joe Berrios, and the people who suffer are the voters of Cook County who deserve transparency, honesty and fairness–both in the election and in their property tax assessments. It is essential that voters have the opportunity to exercise their franchise and choose between duly qualified candidates on Election Day.”
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