The Libertarian Party of Illinois will have 7 candidates on the ballot in November after a challenge was met, it was anounced this past week. Counsel John Fogarty, representing the Republican Party of Illinois, challenged the almost 43,000 signatures that had been gathered in order to place the candidates on the ballot. However, enough signatures were validated to keep the Libertarian candidates approved for the general election.
Turns out there was more going on to prevent Libertarians from running. According to an article in the Suntimes , Republicans were sending out people with guns to the homes of signature-signers to tell frightening and fictional stories in an attempt to have an affadavit signed refuting the original signature.
Here is a report about one of those encounters.
A couple of months after Julieus Hooks signed a political party’s nominating petitions, a man with a gun walked up to Hooks as he left his home in Oak Park.
The man said he was a private investigator. He told Hooks the petition that he had signed was fraudulent and asked him to sign something. Hooks hastily agreed to sign the paper.
“I did not have time to fully review this document because the man with the gun instructed me to sign it, and I was afraid of him and what he may do to me if I refused,” Hooks says.
The story continues:
This is the case where Hooks and his bizarre story of a man with a gun come in.
Hooks had signed a petition for the Libertarians in May. He recanted his story in the affidavit that the man with the gun got him to sign. But then Hooks swore a second affidavit saying he did not mean what he said in the affidavit for the armed man.
According to the most recent version of his story, Hooks said, “On or about July 20, 2014, I was exiting my house when a tall Caucasian man and a woman approached and startled me. The man had a gun, which was visible. They told me that the woman who had circulated the petition sheet that I had signed had violated the law because she had obtained too many signatures and committed fraud. I was then given a piece of paper and told to sign.”
Here is report from a signature-gatherer:
Sarah Dart, who was paid to circulate petitions for the Libertarians and obtained Hooks’ signature, told me a similar story. Dart says a private investigator named Carlos Rodriguez contacted her, asking about a missing girl who knew someone she supposedly knew.
She believes the story about the missing girl was a ruse. When she met with Rodriguez, Dart says he confronted her with a stack of petitions and asked her to admit that the signatures for the Libertarians were obtained fraudulently. She refused, and the state’s hearing officer later found that her signatures were legitimately gathered.
Dart says Rodriguez displayed a holstered gun when he met her. He gave her a business card showing he works for Morrison Security in Alsip. The company’s owner is the Palos Township Republican leader, Sean Morrison.
The article goes on to report:
Morrison did not return repeated calls, and Rauner’s spokesman said to ask the state Republican Party about anything having to do with the petition challenge.
A party spokesman confirmed that lawyer John Fogarty hired Morrison Security to help with the case against the Libertarians’ petitions.
“Their private investigators are licensed to carry firearms and often do so in areas they consider dangerous,” Republican spokesman Andrew Welhouse said.
The full article can be found here.
More information can be found in this article: Illinois GOP Sends Armed Thugs to Libertarians Homes
LOL is overused but in this case Andy actually was guffawing out loud.
Starchild said: “Presumably the accompanying image is meant to represent a GOP party boss’s fit of rage at the prospect of Libertarians getting on the ballot.”
LOL!!!!!!!!
http://www.illinoisherald.com/articles/2014/q3/il-gop-armed-terror-campaign-linked-bruce-rauner/
Good article, but one nit…it does say we are the Republicans’ “fellow conservatives” and “split the conservative vote,” neither of which is true.
I guess nobody knew when he did this song that Moby was singing about the Republicans’ machinations in Chicago:
“Here are we are now, going to the west side, weapons in hand as we go for a ride…”
Presumably the accompanying image is meant to represent a GOP party boss’s fit of rage at the prospect of Libertarians getting on the ballot.
http://hq.lp.org/pipermail/lnc-business_hq.lp.org/attachments/20140906/4e76f661/attachment-0001.pdf
Republicans apparently think whether the LP should be on the ballot should hinge on whether a woman who worked on the petition drive lives on the south side or the west side and how long she has lived there, as well as how she styles her hair.
“New Federalist” writes (August 27, 2014 at 9:25 am), “I sometimes cast a blank ballot just to satisfy my sense of duty to vote but not finding anyone worth voting for I just pull the lever to open the curtain without doing anything else.”
I wouldn’t personally recommend that course of action. Too easy for someone later processing that ballot to fill it in for you.
The Republicans are once again suing to get the LP off the ballot in Illinois
http://hq.lp.org/pipermail/lnc-business_hq.lp.org/2014/001728.html
http://www.illinoisherald.com/articles/2014/q3/il-gop-armed-terror-campaign-linked-bruce-rauner/
OK, I’ll go with that. Now let’s get these criminals arrested so they can get the fair trials they deserve.
pf: I don’t think that is a very politically viable idea though, and probably not very fair to those wrongly convicted, so I wouldn’t push it as a serious proposal.
me: Some Ls would say this is an “unprincipled” position, that you are an “opportunist.”
I support with no reservations disarming prisoners in all cases. If the Constitution needs to be amended to allow for that sensible stance, I’d support amending it.
Hey, wait a sec, this makes me an absolutist!!! 😉 (Catching my breath….) OK, I’m open to allowing some prisoners to be armed, but I can’t think of a good reason to do so at the moment.
Well, for certain heinous classes of criminals such as these “security” thugs and their NSGOP employers, I would not necessarily oppose sending them to a very secure, highly escape-proof place with no guards (except on the outside, if one of them should happen to make their way out) and plenty of weapons and ammo for the inmates to fight over and shoot each other with.
I don’t think that is a very politically viable idea though, and probably not very fair to those wrongly convicted, so I wouldn’t push it as a serious proposal.
It does. I even agree that if public toting is commonplace, it’s less likely that a person would be intimidated by the very sight of a gun.
I wonder if any Ls think the incarcerated should retain their toting rights. It seems likely that at least a handful hold that view. It’s a question I’ve personally never considered, but it seems sensible in the gut to deny 2A rights to prisoners. But I admit I’m not sure whether the Constitution specifies that.
Of course I support open or concealed carry in public.
I also support having armed agents of the state come to the homes of these thugs that went around intimidating voters and petitioners to try to keep the LP off the ballot, and the people that hired them, all the way up the chain to the Republican candidate for governor. They should be questioned, made to sweat, placed under arrest, and given fair trials and appropriate sentences if and when convicted, along with a place in the general prison population. Of course, I don’t think they should have second amendment rights while incarcerated, but assuming they are not given life sentences or shanked to death while inside by fellow inmates, I am all for restoring their gun rights once they are released from correctional confinement.
The fact that these thugs were armed may have been less initimidating if it was not so difficult for ordinary citizens who are not politically connected security company employees to be armed in Illinois.
I hope this helps.
JP, it lept off the screen for me, no magnifying glass needed!
It’s a simple question: do you and PF support open carry in public for all, or not?
Or would you regulate or ban open carry in some circumstances, like this one, where agents use questionable tactics to deny ballot access?
I think the Rs behavior here is especially uncool, to be clear.
But I’d think that many Ls like you two would support their open-carry toting. I’m surprised that PF apparently doesn’t. I can’t tell as yet whether there’s hypocrisy involved, but I am getting a potential hypocritical whiff.
RC said: “Gee, I’d think some Ls would be applauding the toting of guns, anywhere, for any reason, under any circumstance.”
You say a lot of things I don’t understand, but this one takes the cake.
Or…are you just doing your usual of taking a magnifying glass and looking at everything until you find something you can argue about?
Some would say open carry in public IS intimidation under any circumstances.
These guns were merely visible, yes? They didn’t point them, yes?
Would you ban guns in a circumstance such as this, PF? iirc, you’re OK with machine guns in the subway, right? So I’d think you’d oppose banning of any kind. I’d think you’d say: Guns don’t intimidate, people intimidate.
If I have your position incorrect, I’d like to understand it better.
As an intimidation tactic against voters? I don’t think so.
Gee, I’d think some Ls would be applauding the toting of guns, anywhere, for any reason, under any circumstance.
From what I understand that may be in the works, although I do not know whether it is LPIL doing it or the Democrats. It just so happens that the sitting Democratic Governor is running for re-election, and the Republicans employing these dirty tactics are doing so in the ultimate hope of siphoning off enough Libertarian votes to beat him. As you may imagine, the Governor is not happy with this, either in his capacity as the politician against whom (by proxy) dirty tricks are being employed, nor as the head of the state government who has ultimate authority for overseeing the state’s law enforcement agencies, which I can’t help but think have more time, money and resources on their hands to investigate these crimes than LPIL does.
If the Revolutionary Vegetarian Party sent people with guns to encourage people not to have signed petitions, there would be Federal criminal issues. There is no change here. What is needed is for the LPIL, in its copious spare time, to find people who were subject to efforts to intimidate and discuss matters with appropriate Federal agencies.
http://www.ballot-access.org/2014/08/chicago-sun-times-article-on-ties-between-republican-gubernatorial-candidate-and-efforts-to-remove-libertarian-candidates/
You’d have to pay me to get me to vote for a Republican. Seeing that organization from the third party perspective has made me realize just how truly evil they are. Certainly most Republican activists and party members are not evil. But, the organization as a whole absolutely is.
“Really, not voting at all is better than voting for a mainstream Democrat or mainstream Republican.”
I sometimes cast a blank ballot just to satisfy my sense of duty to vote but not finding anyone worth voting for I just pull the lever to open the curtain without doing anything else.
Here’s another write-up of this story.
http://republicannewswatch.com/wp/?p=13611
The present day Republican Party knows no bounderies or limits to insure they stay in power.
Pennsylvania counties are doing better now about counting write-ins, at least for president. In 2012, amazingly, the state tallied write-ins for several write-in presidential candidates. They had never done that before, except they had done it for Ralph Nader in 1996 and 2004.
Again, some counties don’t count write-ins and I’m not sure whether any county counts write-ins for NOTA.
“paulie
August 25, 2014 at 7:50 am
Write in votes aren’t counted in some PA counties and NOTA is not on the ballot.”
You can still vote for NOTA in PA even though it is not on the ballot. You can write it in, or simply cast a blank vote.
Really, not voting at all is better than voting for a mainstream Democrat or mainstream Republican.
Write in votes aren’t counted in some PA counties and NOTA is not on the ballot.
“NewFederalist
August 24, 2014 at 6:34 pm
I almost always vote Libertarian and when there are no alternative nominees on the ballot (I live in PA so that is often) I either show up and cast a blank ballot or vote for the party currently not in office. Since this year the non-incumbent party is the Democrats I just might have to vote for them just to stick it to the GOP.”
It would be better to cast a write in vote or cast a vote for None Of The Above than it is to cast a vote for any mainstream Democrat or mainstream Republican.
I almost always vote Libertarian and when there are no alternative nominees on the ballot (I live in PA so that is often) I either show up and cast a blank ballot or vote for the party currently not in office. Since this year the non-incumbent party is the Democrats I just might have to vote for them just to stick it to the GOP.
>…and they’re pissed off that I posted this!
Those people are either sheep, co-conspirators, Republicans or all of the above.
Jill, thank you for posting. Keep up the good work!
And
http://politics.suntimes.com/article/springfield/under-gun-petition-challenges/wed-08202014-801pm
Point them to https://www.quinnforillinois.com/quinn-illinois-statement-regarding-rauner-voter-intimidation-guns
I was astounded to read that many people on FB don’t believe this happeneed– and they’re pissed off that I posted this!
“Coercion and fraud are still illegal….oh wait, this is Illinois, so it is a food group”
Best line I’ve heard all week!
That may well happen. See the original full article.
Those Republican thugs ought to be prosecuted for voter intimidation.
Steve–
As I told your former Chair last night, I consider Illinois 2014 to be a continuation of Pennsylvania 2012. The Republicans will stop at nothing to intimidate voters and prevent choice on the ballot.
It’s fortunate that LPIL was able to overcome this vicious attack by the Republicans.
Of course this is the sort of abuse that Holder’s Justice Department will ignore.I love the justification that the thugs needed guns because they were going into “bad” neighborhoods!
Too many signatures? Is that for real?
Coercion and fraud are still illegal….oh wait, this is Illinois, so it is a food group.
The RP is pathetic.
GO Julie FOX!!
Isn’t it awesome how the party is able to insulate itself from wrongdoing by throwing the private investigation firm under the proverbial bus?
This is one of those instances where we need access to a solid PR machine, because the court system will fail to deliver any sort of justice to anyone wronged by these thugs.
I am willing to help fund such a PR venture, and while I know some motivated talent interested in sticking it to the thugs, it is not my place to suggest here, publicly. Whomever decides to make something happen, please contact me off list and let me help as much as I am able.
Regardless, this needs to stop and these people need to be held to account for their actions.
Sincerely,
Steve Scheetz