Two independent candidates vying for U.S. Rep. Jesus “Chuy” Garcia’s Congressional seat will not appear on the November ballot after the Illinois State Board of Elections on Tuesday ruled that both did not submit the minimum number of valid petition signatures — 10,816 required to run as an independent candidate.
Both Mayra Macías and Ald. Byron Sigcho-Lopez (25th) will not appear on the ballot, leaving Lyons Mayor Chris Getty as the only independent to make it to the ballot. There were no challenges filed against Getty’s petitions. Patty Garcia, Rep. Garcia’s chief of staff, is running for his seat after the congressman abruptly dropped out of the race and raised eyebrows by quickly helping her get enough signatures to make a tight deadline.
The board ruled unanimously that both candidates did not get the required number of signatures.
State Board of Elections general counsel Marni M. Malowitz said Mayra Macías submitted 9,758 valid signatures, which is 1,058 fewer than was required. In one instance, a petitioner provided a wrong home address, so 101 of the signatures she collected were tossed. In another, a petition circulator was also getting signatures from other Democratic candidates, which is not allowed for independent candidates. In other cases, signatures were not valid.
“More than 30,000 voters signed petitions for me and Ald. Sigcho-Lopez [collectively]. Those signatures represent 30,000 conversations with people… ” Macías said. “Despite the extraordinary threshold, our campaign knocked on over 50,000 doors and submitted over 17,000 signatures, more than enough to demonstrate broad community support and way more signatures than Patty Garcia submitted, or Congressman Garcia has ever submitted.”
Macías, who was at the hearing, criticized the process, saying she was given just three days to prove many signatures were legitimate. She also said “the spirit of the law is being completely broken in this race.”
“The rules were put in place to safeguard democracy, and yet these very rules are currently doing the opposite,” Macías said.
Malowitz said Sigcho-Lopez submitted 9,594 valid signatures, which is 1,222 fewer than required.
Malowitz noted that the constitutional challenges that Sigcho-Lopez presented weren’t under the board’s jurisdiction and said “they should be raised by the courts.” Among those objections were signers of an independent candidate’s position don’t have to be registered voters or to write their address next to their names on a petition sheet. Malowitz said she agreed with objectors that election code does require signers be registered to vote at an address listed.
In the face of challenges to their candidacies, Sigcho-Lopez and Macias are teaming up to call for changes to the state’s process for independent candidates, which they say is set up to help established Democrats stay in power.
“Today we see unethical attorneys, unethical lobbyists stealing this election,” Sigcho-Lopez told the board after the ruling. “This is a shame for our state, disenfranchising Latino and Latina voters, and we see the candidate… and the congressman who sent attorneys here to represent them hiding from the public, hiding from public comment, paid by the billionaire interests.”
Sigcho-Lopez raised his voice and said that “the choice of the people died,” and he vowed to take his fight for independent candidates to the Illinois Supreme Court.