Video: Entire Township Incumbency faced with allegations of forged petitions –
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Video: Entire Township Incumbency faced with allegations of forged petitions – Seward Township is approximately 35 square miles and located in Kendall County, just west of Joliet, Illinois.
Seward Township government has an elected Supervisor, four Trustees, Clerk, Assessor, and Highway Commissioner.
When candidate petition packets for the spring 2021 election were submitted to the township clerk, local residents found irregularities among the packets when they received copies of them. Objections were then filed, alleging the petitions were filed beyond the December 21, 2020 filing cut-off date, and were subsequently back-dated to make it appear they were submitted within the established filing dates.
We understand petition objections were filed, and a lawsuit is being contemplated.
Here is what we observed in the petition packets – and it certainly indicated dates were changed after receipt (redactions are ours, and they consist of signatures, addresses, and SSNs):
Anne Vickey for Highway Commissioner:
- Sheets 1, 2, and 3: “Municipal” Election changed to “Consolidated” Election on the date it was notarized – Which election was on the page when the voters signed it?
- Clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 10, 2020 – but the date on the stamp indicates Dec 14 on page 5, but an apparent different date (with “10” fixed to say “14”) on page 4.
Dan Roberts for Trustee:
- Sheets 1 and 2: “Municipal” Election changed to “Consolidated” Election on the date it was notarized – Which election was on the page when the voters signed it?
- Sheets 1 and 2: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 14, 2020.
- Statement of Economic Interest dated Dec 17 – three days after the “corrected” FILED date on the petitions.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
James Martin for Trustee:
- Sheets 1 and 2: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 21, 2020.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
James Fleming for Road Commissioner (no such office):
- Sheets 1, 2, and3: “Municipal” Election appears to be whited out and changed to “Consolidated” Election on the date it was notarized – Which election was on the page when the voters signed it?
- Sheets 1 and 2: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 20, 2020.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
Joseph Zolper for Road Commissioner (no such office):
- Sheets 1, 2, 3, and 5: “Municipal” Election appears to be whited out and changed to “Consolidated” Election on the date it was notarized – Which election was on the page when the voters signed it?
- Sheet 2: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 18, 2020.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
Karen Lombardo for Township Supervisor:
- Sheets 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 14, 2020.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
Sharleen Smith for Township Clerk:
- Sheet 1: Incomplete address at the top
- Sheet 1: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 14, 2020.
- Statement of Economic Interest dated Dec 17 – three days after the “corrected” FILED date on the petitions.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
Thomas P. Fleming for Trustee:
- Sheets 1 and 2: “Municipal” Election appears to be changed to “Consolidated” Election on the date it was notarized – Which election was on the page when the voters signed it?
- Sheets 1 and 2: The first date written when stamped as FILED was Dec 22, 2020 – but was later changed to Dec 15, 2020.
- The clerk signed a paper indicating the packet was received on December 22, 2020.
- Statement of Economic Interest dated Dec 17 – two days after the “corrected” FILED date on the petitions.
There is one more candidate petition packet similar to the above, but we do not have a copy of it.
According to the Objectors: What all of this appears to indicate, is that the Township Clerk accepted these petition packets on December 22, 2020 – one day after the cut-off date, and at some point, backdated them to a date falling within the statutory filing date-range.
Watch the below video discussion held last night concerning this subject to get a better understanding of the issues involved:
Video: Entire Township Incumbency faced with allegations of forged petitions
Responses