McHenry Township Electoral Board Arguments on Removing GOP Trustee Candidates

In making its decision on whether the Republican Party Caucus-selected candidates for McHenry Township Trustee should be allowed to stay on the ballot, the discussion among the Electoral Board members included the following.

Steve Haugh

Echoing what McHenry Township Republican Party Chairman Steve Verr, acting as attorney for the challenged candidates, said was public Electoral Board member Steve Haugh, who is also an attorney.

He pointed out that the testimony revealed that “there clearly was a Rules Committee…which sent up weighted voting.

“I don’t see any objection, therefore, everything happened according to the rules.

“It makes sense.

“I would rule against Mr. Adams [in his complaint to kick Republican Clerk candidate Dan Ayward off the ballot].”

The second Electoral Board member to offer his opinion was public member and attorney David Stone.

David Stone

“I believe is not in compliance with the statutory requirement,” Stone said.

“…I don’t see how a weighted vote can be done in this fashion.

“All elections should be free and equal

“If there’s voting, there is an election.

“I believe the legislature [had in mind] one man, one vote.

In reply to the testimony that had a one-man, one-vote result been used, Stone said, “I don’t see how that could even happen when there are special voters who have more votes than other people.”

He agreed with the argument that knowledge of the weighted voting rule would have “a drag on” people’s showing up who were not Precinct Committeemen.

Stone pointed to Craig Adams’ not even going to the caucus and “another qualified party left the meeting” because of the weighted vote rule.

“Non-compliance with the Rules defeats the validity of these nominations,” Stone concluded.

He also agreed that the law had been violated by having a Chairman of the Caucus who was not a township resident.

(That person was McHenry County Board member Mike Walkup, who is a resident of Nunda Township, selected because the McHenry Township Central Committee wanted someone neutral.)

Marsha Nelson

However, Stone said, “I can’t even conceive how it had an effect on the outcome.

“I’m inclined to uphold the objection.”

At this point Verr tried to offer a motion as to the bias of the Board, but was told, “It’s too late.”

The vote was 2-1 to toss all four of the McHenry Township’s Republican candidates for Township Trustee off the ballot, with Stone and and incumbent Township Clerk Marsha Nelson, running on a slate with four Independent Township Trustee candidates voting together.

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A summary of what happened on Friday when Republican candidates for McHenry Township Clerk and Trustee were kicked off the ballot can be found here.


Comments

McHenry Township Electoral Board Arguments on Removing GOP Trustee Candidates — 11 Comments

  1. A caucus is supposed to be open to all Republicans so they can have an equal vote on choosing Republican candidates.

    The fact that these…”people” in charge engineered a stacked “weighted vote” that elevated Republican Committeemen, and effectively shut out and disenfranchised the average Republican voter?

    In my opinion, it’s a testament to just how slimey Illinois politics can get, even in the hands of so-called self-proclaimed “reformers” like Bob Anderson and the rest of these “Republican” candidates…

  2. A caucus is not a general election or even a general primary election.

    It is a function of a party in the same way the precinct committeeman get together to reorganize the county party officers.

    At the county reorganization, PCs vote the strength of the precinct – weighted vote.

  3. John: Wrong. A party caucus is open to all members of the party.

    A Republican caucus, in other words, is open to all Republican electors (voters).

    Giving Precinct Committeemen a ‘weighted vote’ advantage sets them far above the average Republican who shows up, and is typical of the dirty politics that Illinois is famous for.

    So congratulations to your McHenry Township Republicans for making us all look more corrupt than a Saturday Night Live sketch…

  4. Mr. Williams, it would appear you have not read the law.

    The law clearly states that the Caucus shall be conducted as determined by the Rules set prior to the Caucus.

    It does not matter if you agree with the rules or not, they were set at a legal meeting of the Township committee.

    I do hope the electoral board decisions are taken to a REAL court where their decision will be overturned.

    Nothing “corrupt” happened.

    Your accusation ranks right there with “George Bush did it”.

    I have observed Mr. Stone in action elsewhere and he is in my opinion a dufus.

  5. Cautious Voter: If you’re comfortable with corrupt, unethical practices that exclude the average Republican voter from participating in his or her party’s caucus, please remind us never to vote for you or anyone you’re associated with.

    A fish rots from the head down. Do you have an affiliation with McHenry Township GOP “leadership”?

    If so, did you object to this corrupt, insider deal to exclude the average Republican voter from meaningful participation in the GOP caucus?

    Because if the answer to my questions is “No,” then YOU are exactly what’s wrong with this state…

  6. Williams- McHenry township trustee caucus should not be open to every Republican in the party. Did you mean open to every voter who pulled a Republican ballot in the last primary or do you mean registered Republicans in mchenry township only

  7. Martha: The caucus is meant to be open to all “Republican electors” in the township, which in Illinois means all voters who pulled a Republican ballot during the last Primary election.

    When the insiders and the boys in the smoke-filled rooms want to rig a caucus, they do things like establishing “rules” gifting Committeemen with “weighted ballots” that blow the individual Republican voter out of the water.

    You know, the kind of insider grifting that “reformers” like Bob Anderson screamed against for years, UNTIL the day that it started benefitting THEM…

  8. Robert Williams –

    I am sorry if my statement was not clear.

    A caucus is a function of a party – open to all party members (voters and Precinct Committeeman alike).

    I am not a part of the McHenry Township Republican Central Committee but, as I understand the rules as laid out by the committee, for every Republican voter who attended the caucus, their vote was deducted from the weighted vote of the PC.

    In other words the PC, who is the party representative in their precinct, votes on behalf of themselves and each non-attending Republican voter in the precinct.

    If EVERY single voter in a given precinct attended the caucus, the PC would only have their own vote.

    Conversely, if nobody but the PC attended from a given precinct, the PC would vote on behalf of those who did not attend.

    A caucus is not a general election or even a general primary election.

    It is a function of a party to decide who the party (comprised of Republican voters and Republican PCs) wishes to have placed on the ballot for a given office.

  9. What about the Township hacks sitting in judgment of their own objections and the objections made against them?

    THEY are the real creeps.

    This is not America.

  10. John O’Neill: Thank you for confirming my statement that the McHenry Township GOP chose to make their Committeemen into “Super-Delegates” whose voting power far outweighed any individual Republican voter at the caucus.

    Hillary Clinton would be proud…

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