As most of you know by now, all three Aldermanic challengers in the 48th Ward have been blocked from the ballot. Each of us made similar mistakes with the filing of our economic interest statements.

Many people have asked for details about how it happened that all three opposition candidates have been blocked from the ballot by Susan Henning and Mary Ann Smith. I have resisted getting into too much detail because it is complicated to explain. Be that as it may let me do my best.

Each candidate for City Office is required to file a Statement of Economic Interest with the Cook County Board of Election. Upon filing this statement with Cook County, the candidate is required to file a receipt for this document with the Chicago Board of Election. This receipt must be submitted within the same window that the Candidate is provided for filing his/her petitions and Statement of Candidacy. The penalty for not filing any of these documents correctly is removal from the ballot.

Each Candidate is also required to file a Statement of Ethics with the Chicago Board of Ethics. The penalty for not filing this document is that the Candidate is not allowed to take the oath of office until he/she does.

It seems simple in retrospect, but in the heat of the moment and even with legal counsel mistakes can clearly be made.

One of the other candidates filed the Economic Interest Statement but not the receipt. For this there is ample case law indicating that he should not be allowed on the ballot.

It is my understanding that the third candidate also filed the Economic Interest Statement and then filed a copy of this form but not the receipt with the Chicago Board of Elections. For this she is off the ballot.

Our crime was probably the worst. We confused the Ethics Statement with the Statement of Economic Interest and filed the Ethics document with the City. What capped our confusion (and cemented our ignorance) was the fact that we received a receipt from the clerk of the Chicago Board of Elections stating that we had filed the correct document. As unbelievable as this is, it is true. Our entire defense was built on the fact that we were indeed misled.

The receipt for turning in candidacy documents has two boxes, a YES box and a NO box, next to which are the words “Receipt for Statement of Economic Interest.” The clerk who collected our documents checked the YES box. Therefore, we assumed that we submitted the documents correctly.

We filed 1,551 signatures, nine times more than the required 167. We filed these along with our Statement of Candidacy on the first day of filing there were another 5 days in which we could have corrected our mistake. Had the clerk checked the NO box indicating that we hadn’t submitted the Receipt for the Statement of Economic Interest since we had not, we would simply have contacted our attorney and rectified our error.

When candidates make these kinds of mistakes, another person in the community can file a challenge to their petitions. IF THERE HAD BEEN NO CHALLENGE, OUR NAMES WOULD HAVE REMAINED ON THE BALLOT. HAD THEY REMOVED THEIR CHALLENGES, OUR NAMES WOULD HAVE REMAINED ON THE BALLOT. In this case Susanne Henning a personal friend of Mary Ann Smith, filed the challenge and has by this challenge, decided that her one signature is more important than the nearly 2,500 signatures that Mary Ann Smith challengers collected.

My opponent in this campaign will make hay out of the fact that my campaign also filed challenges. This is true. We took a close look at our opponent’s signatures. The difference is that we withdrew our challenges, Susanne Henning and Mary Ann Smith did not.

As I have said before. I was and am deeply disappointed at myself and my mistake. But what angers me is that we the voters lose our franchise. Not for anything that has to do with the electoral process, but with an arcane and backward process.

Thank you for your continued support of my campaign for alderman, a campaign to bring an independent voice to city council, a campaign not afraid to publicly debate the issues that matter to us all.

Sincerely,

Christopher Persons
Candidate for Alderman 48th Ward

CALL TO ACTION:

Organize a coffee get together for me to come speak about the issues with people you know.

Pass on our message to your friends and neighbors -- that we do have a choice on the ballot by writing in Christopher Persons for Alderman on February 27.

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Our campaign is alive. Help us keep democracy and choice alive in the 48th Ward.