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COOK COUNTY RECORD

Tuesday, March 19, 2024

Campaigns & Elections News

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Campaigns & Elections

Bring Chicago Home tax hike referendum gets new life; Appeals court says legal challenge 'premature'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel overturned the ruling of a Cook County judge who had invalidated Mayor Brandon Johnson's real estate sales tax hike ballot measure because it illegally asked voters two questions in one referendum. The appeals court said validity challenges need to wait until after the election

Campaigns & Elections

Race for Cook County State's Attorney dead heat, new poll says

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A poll from survey firm M3 Strategies says retired judge Eileen O'Neill Burke, who has pledged to undo many of the perceived soft on crime policies of current Cook County State's Attorney Kim Foxx, is tied at 21% with attorney Clayton Harris III, who is endorsed by allies of Foxx and Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson.

Campaigns & Elections

Supreme Court boots ballot challenges to Trump, says states can't block presidential candidates under 14th Amend

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The unanimous ruling strikes down rulings from Democratic judges in Colorado and Cook County, which had declared individual states have the power under the Fourteenth Amendment to block "insurrectionists" from seeking federal office

Campaigns & Elections

Cook County judge says Colorado got it right, says Trump should be kicked off IL ballot

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Cook County Judge Tracie Porter, a Democrat, said she agreed that Trump engaged in "insurrection" and should be removed from the Illinois ballot. She placed her decision on hold, however, leaving it appeals courts, and perhaps the U.S. Supreme Court, to have the final say

Campaigns & Elections

Cook County State's Attorney race offers voters stark choice in approach to prosecuting crime

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Retired Appellate Justice Eileen O'Burke says she will restore strong prosecution of gun crimes and retail theft in Chicago and elsewhere. Clayton Harris III, who is endorsed by Chicago political bosses, says he believes current State's Attorney Foxx has earned top grades and he will continue many of her policies and goals

Campaigns & Elections

Chicago Board of Elections, City Hall each seek to appeal ruling invalidating Chicago tax hike referendum

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Both the Chicago Board of Elections and city of Chicago will argue a Cook County judge was wrong to block the city from intervening in the court fight over the so-called Bring Chicago Home referendum. The judge ruled the ballot question is illegally drafted, and votes should not be counted.

Campaigns & Elections

Judge invalidates 'Bring Chicago Home' real estate sales tax hike referendum

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The judge said the referendum supported by Mayor Brandon Johnson in the name of fighting homelessness was illegally placed on the ballot. Supporters said the decision was racist 'voter suppression' and vowed appeal. Opponents say the referendum is a backdoor property tax increase with no safeguards on how the funds would be spent

Campaigns & Elections

Burke's lasting legacy: Cook County's courts harbor favored, connected judges

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Former Chicago Ald. Ed Burke, once one of the most powerful politicians in Illinois, has left behind a long list of loyalist judges on Cook County's courts, including several in high places within the county's controversial divorce and family law courts

Campaigns & Elections

Appeals court rejects bid by Republican to overturn 2020 judge election he claims was stolen

By Jonathan Bilyk |
Park Ridge Republican lawyer Frank DiFranco has claimed Cook County Clerk Karen Yarbrough used then-novel Vote By Mail rules to cheat in counting votes to allow a Democrat and former Yarbrough staffer to eke out a win in the northwest suburban judicial race

Campaigns & Elections

Wisconsin governor can't win sanctions from attorneys working for Trump to overturn 2020 results

By Scott Holland |
Appeals panel said request to punish lawyers was filed too late, after parties dropped their claims

Campaigns & Elections

Judge tosses lawsuit challenging Illinois' vote-by-mail law's 2 week ballot counting window

By Scott Holland |
Rep. Bost, other plaintiffs, alleged 14-day window for counting mailed ballots violates Constitution and federal law

Campaigns & Elections

Unpaid city bills, campaign fines weigh on Johnson ahead of tomorrow’s mayoral runoff; he's a court ruling away from being tossed from ballot

By Cook County Record |
Published reports that Brandon Johnson had amassed thousands in unpaid city water bills and parking tickets has intensified concerns that the former public school teacher lacks the fiscal management skills to oversee the budget of the nation’s third largest city.

Campaigns & Elections

IL Dems change law to allow vote-by-mail ballots to be counted in a way judge had said 'would be obvious way to commit fraud'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
The changes come after a Republican state House candidate had sued the Democratic DuPage County Clerk, accusing her of illegally verifying signatures on mail-in ballots against signatures on the vote-by-mail ballot applications, and not the official voter registration records, as had been required by law

Campaigns & Elections

Appeals court: DuPage judge wrong to step into fight over mail-in ballots while votes were being counted

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A state appeals panel has sided with DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek in a court fight with State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi, saying courts have no ability to order election officials to follow the law when counting votes until after election officials say they are done counting ballots.

Campaigns & Elections

DuPage County Clerk appeals again to escape judge's order requiring her to follow law when counting mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has appealed to the Illinois Third District Appellate Court to overturn a DuPage County judge's temporary restraining order in a dispute with a Republican state legislator over how she is verifying mail-in ballots are legal

Campaigns & Elections

IL Supreme Court rejects bid by DuPage Clerk to overturn judge's order to follow law when counting mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek had argued a DuPage County judge overstepped his authority by granting a court order sought by a DuPage County state lawmaker seeking to force her office to verify mail-in ballots as Illinois election law requires

Campaigns & Elections

DuPage Clerk asks IL Supreme Court to toss DuPage judge's order to follow law when verifying mail-in ballots

By Jonathan Bilyk |
DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek argues a DuPage County judge improperly entered a court order requiring her office to exclusively use voter registration records to verify voter signatures on mail-in ballots. She says judges must wait until after she has finished counting votes to ensure votes were legally counted

Campaigns & Elections

Judge: Procedures used by DuPage Clerk to count mail-in ballots 'obvious way to commit ballot fraud'

By Jonathan Bilyk |
A DuPage County judge has ordered DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek to rely exclusively on voter registration records when verifying signatures on mail-in ballots, as the law requires, in a win for Elmhurst Republican State Rep. Deanne Mazzochi in her lawsuit over vote counting in her race for a new term in office