GOP election lawsuit headed to federal court
An Illinois Republican Party lawsuit seeking to prevent thousands of Lake County ballots from being counted on Election Day is headed to federal court.
At a brief hearing today in Lake County circuit court, GOP representatives wanted Associate Judge Mitchell Hoffman to deliver a quick decision on the lawsuit, which the GOP brought Tuesday against the county clerk's office and Citizen Action/Illinois, an activist group in Chicago.
According to the suit, the GOP is concerned about voter registration fraud based on evidence uncovered by the clerk's office.
But Citizen Action attorney Michael Kasper announced he filed documents to move the case from Lake County to U.S. District Court in Chicago. The questions raised by the GOP are federal, Kaspar said, so the case should be moved.
Hoffman agreed to let a federal judge decide which court should handle the case. A hearing wasn't set.
Lake County GOP Chairman Dan Venturi said he wants a decision as fast as possible and criticized the move to federal court, saying Hoffman could have settled the issue today.
"Moving to federal court is a delay tactic," Venturi said.
The Lake County Democratic Party joined the defense in the case in court. Attorney Matthew Flamm said the Republican lawsuit was "egregious and politically motivated."
"The suit filed yesterday by the Illinois Republican Party represents a new low in political tactics, even for Illinois," Flamm said in a statement after the hearing. "This frivolous lawsuit is a transparent attempt to disenfranchise thousands of newly registered voters in a desperate attempt to save Mark Kirk and other Republican candidates from defeat at the polls. It will not stand."
Kirk, a Republican congressman serving the suburban 10th District, has been at the heart of the case, as has his Democratic opponent, Dan Seals. They're running a close - and closely watched - race, and most of the suspicious voter registration applications uncovered by the county clerk's office have been connected to addresses within the 10th District.
The lawsuit seeks a court order directing the Lake County clerk's office, which oversees elections, to create separate codes for all voter-registration forms gathered by Citizen Action/Illinois and a specific worker.
The complaint also requests ballots cast by voters registered by Citizen Action or the worker to be considered provisional ballots that wouldn't be counted until two weeks after Election Day.
Citizen Action/Illinois Executive Director Lynda DeLaforgue has denied any wrongdoing.
The Lake County state's attorney's and sheriff's offices are investigating. No charges have been filed.
For more information and updates, revisit dailyherald.com or read Thursday's Daily Herald.
<div class="infoBox"> <h1>More Coverage</h1> <div class="infoBoxContent"> <div class="infoArea"> <h2>Stories</h2> <ul class="links"> <li><a href="/story/?id=246113&src=3">GOP fears voter registration fraud in Lake Co., files lawsuit <span class="date">[10/28/08]</span></a></li> <li><a href="/story/?id=243500">Lake Co. clerk swamped with fraudulent voter registration forms <span class="date">[10/17/08]</span></a></li> </ul> </div> </div> </div>