A Write-In to be Heard?

While a fundamental maxim of show business ...

I don't care what the newspapers say about me as long as they spell my name right.

... the saying is never true in politics. Unless the politics happens to be in Illinois's Tenth Congressional District and the newspaper happens to be the Daily Herald:

Aloys Rutagwibira, a first-time candidate from Hainesville, filed to become a legally recognized write-in candidate. He was removed from the ballot by the state board of elections because his candidate petition did not contain enough signatures. The Daily Herald also has reported that, if elected, Rutagwibira cannot serve in Congress because he has not been a U.S. citizen long enough. The Constitution requires congressmen to be citizens at least seven years. Rutagwibira, a Rwandan native, became a citizen in 2006, public records show.
Rutagwibira to run as write-in

Besides demonstrating that they employ a headline writer with a deadpan sense of humor ...

Rutagwibira to run as write-in

The Daily Herald's story points to one of the pitfalls of being a write-in candidate. Lake County voters can expect to be treated like below-average middleschoolers: Spelling Counts! While the rules may be more relaxed in other Illinois counties, the Lake County Clerk's office is notorious for nullifying write-in votes cast with misspelled candidate names.

A head's up to ops: Any GOTV on behalf of Aloys Rutagwibira should first include a quick trip to his website for an orthographic refresher ...

Aloys Rutagwibira for Congress

... before that trip to the polling station.

Regarding all the hurly-burly over Rutagwibira's constitutional eligibility to serve, your LakeCountyEye sees a thinly disguised political straw man. Ever since the founding of the Republic, constitutional ineligibility seems to have been the norm rather than the exception. George W Bush served eight years in the White House after stealing the election in 2000 and another one in 2004. The current President, Barack Obama, is both a Muslim who was born in Kenya and has no birth certificate to prove it. And the Republic seems none the worse for it!

Your LakeCountyEye foresees victory for Rutagwibira in March and another easy win in November -- where he will be sworn into 113th Congress as Illinois's newest Representative from the Tenth District.