Wicker Park Booster: Green Party candidate pushes her case

Article on Kathy Cummings, candidate for 4th state rep., by Anitra Rowe, Staff Writer, Sept. 20, 2006

http://www.pioneerlocal.com/cgi-bin/ppo-story/localnews/current/b2/09-20-06-1034801.html

The Green Party candidate for District 4 state representative has been shut out of the election and is taking her case to the Illinois Appellate Court.

Cook County Circuit Judge Marsha D. Hayes on Sept. 12 dismissed Green Party candidate Kathleen J. Cummings' appeal for a spot on the November ballot. Incumbent State Rep. Cynthia Soto, D-4, aggressively challenged Cummings's petition submissions.

Andrew B. Spiegel, Cummings' attorney, was scheduled to appeared before Hayes Sept. 11, when he planned to argue that the number of signatures that Cummings was required to collect was too high.

However, Hayes was sick Sept. 11, and Spiegel said that on the afternoon of Sept. 12, he learned that the hearing was held earlier in the day on Sept. 12.

"The judge denied the motion because I did not show up," Spiegel said.

Spiegel said he was in Springfield, Ill., Sept. 12 "on an emergency election case" involving Socialist Equality Party candidate Joseph Parnarauskis in the 52nd state senate district and didn't hear about the rescheduled hearing until after it occurred.

The Chicago Board of Elections said its counsel, Attorney James Scanlon, was notified of the Sept. 12 hearing and appeared in court that day, as did Soto's attorney Michael Kasper.

So Sept. 14, Spiegel filed an emergency notice of appeal to the Illinois Appellate Court, 1st District.

Spiegel contends that if the number of signatures that Cummings was required to collect had been lower, Cummings would have had enough signatures to be on the ballot.

New party candidates are required to submit petitions equal in number to 5 percent of the votes cast in last election. Cummings was required to submit 1,531 signatures, or 5 percent of the 30,611 who voted in the last gubernatorial election, Spiegel said.

However, Cummings said that she should only have to submit 1,120 signatures, or 5 percent of the 22,389 who voted in the last District 4 state representative election, Spiegel said. Cummings submitted 1,518 petitions, just shy of the 1,531 required, but well above 1,120.

Spiegel also argued that Cummings wasn't given adequate time to "rehabilitate" signatures scrutinized by Soto's camp. Spiegel said Cummings has complied with the Chicago Board of Elections' requirements and statutes and has met all deadlines for material submissions.

Spiegel said new party candidates and campaign workers typically go to big summer community events to get the required signatures. However, this year, the signature-collecting period started on the third week of March and ended on the third week of June, a change that caused candidates to miss the bulk of the summer festival season, a prime signature collecting period, Spiegel said.

If the requirement of voter signatures wasn't so high, Spiegel said new party candidates would have more time to use voter registration sheets and go door-to-door collecting signatures.