Chicago attorney, Steven Laduzinsky, presented the objections raised by McGlasson and the Republican party, while Carl Draper, of Springfield, defended the petitions gathered by Childress and his volunteers. Both attorneys have wide experience in the area of election law.

 

Laduzinsky argued that there are a sufficient number of individual irregularities in the petitions to keep Childress off the ballot. Some of the errors he noted include signatures printed rather than written; lack of the name and address of the person circulating the petition; undated notarization; and unreadable signatures. In addition he noted that several petitions were simply left in public places,,including DeLong's restaurant, for people to sign rather than being personally circulated by canvassers.

 

He stressed that full and accurate completion of the petition form itself is an essential component of election law, and that therefore any deviance from the exact requirements of the form must automatically invalidate the signatures collected. By adding all the instances of deviance he argued that Mr. Childress does not have the 788 valid signatures that election authority Pat Oltman ruled are needed to be on the ballot.

 

Mr. Draper countered that, while McGlasson and the party have raised a number of objections, it is their responsibility to show proof of their validity, and they have not done so. He compared their tactics to "throwing a bunch of mud to see what sticks." No notary has been subpoenaed, he said, and no testimony has been given to support the allegations; for instance, no proof was shown that anyone actually signed the petitions that were left lying about. He also maintained that the law is unclear on the matter of printed signatures.

 

The law, he noted, exists to protect "access to the ballot" as well as to prevent abuse of the signature-gathering process. He also noted that election law makes it more difficult for an independent candidate, like Childress, to get on the ballot. Draper said that the petition form itself is not self-explanatory, and that mistakes can easily be made, especially by novice canvassers. 

 

While the words themselves were often heated, both attorneys maintained a respectful and professional demeanor. Childress did not comment, and there were no questions from a very sparse audience of mostly media representatives. McGlasson and Deputy Meredith were not present.

 

Hearing Chairman, Chief Assistant States Attorney, Carey Luckman, and electoral board members, Connie McDougal and Kristy Masching, will deliberate among themselves before rendering a decision on the issue. These deliberations, which according to Luckman, must be publlic, will begin at 1:00 pm Friday, in the boardroom at the county courthouse.