The Democratic race for the 40th District seat in the Illinois House—which initially stood out because both candidates are openly gay—has taken on another twist.
According to the Chicago Sun-Times, challenger Joe Laiacona has filed a petition against incumbent state Rep. Deb Mell, charging that she is not registered to vote at the address she has as her primary residence.
Laiacona told Windy City Times how the petition came about: "I had a volunteer who had an attorney friend who wanted to meet me, so we met for lunch. He went back to his office and did a search on Mell, and couldn't find her address. He then told my volunteer, who told me. ( This was last June. ) I looked up her voting address in the database I had and found a Clybourn address. Well, [ Laiacona's partner ] Patrick rides his bicycle down there, so he stopped at [ the ] address and there was no name on the door; the only name was a man's name. So we kept that in mind.
"Then, Aug. 4 came about and we were collecting petitions. ... My attorney [ advised ] me to get the city list, which is a CD of all the registered voters in your district. I looked up Deb Mell's name, and she wasn't listed. Then I called my lawyer and told her she's not registered in my district. He said, 'You should get the list of expired registrations.' And, indeed, her name was listed as an expired voter."
"It would seem to me that she moved and forgot to change her registration. It's a simple mistake; anyone could do it. So we were on pins and needles, not knowing where she was going to register from. And Oct. 26 [ the filing date ] came; I got a copy of her petition and the address on her petition. ... My lawyer put that address in the city's database, which is online, and it came up that no one is registered there. ... And case law says that although you don't have to reside at the place put on the petition, you have to be a registered voter in the district."
Laiacona added that he is "confident" he will prevail. "It's not a done deal until the courts rule on it. We have a hearing on Monday [ Nov. 16 ] with the Board of Elections, when they give their decision. That can be appealed to the circuit court, and that can be appealed to the appellate court and [ that ] can be appealed to the supreme court of the state. I think I have a really good lawyer in Richard Means, and I think we will prevail."
Mell told Windy City Times, "He's got it completely backwards. Election law says that you have to be 21 years or older, you have to be a citizen, you have to live in the district two years and you have to get 500 signatures to get on the ballot; it says nothing about having to be a registered voter.
"Just because you challenge someone's petition doesn't make what you say correct. I feel really confident that I'm going to be on the ballot in February. I've got the law on my side so I feel pretty confident that I'm going to prevail."
The electoral primaries are Feb. 2, 2010.
