Sore Losers

Lake County Board Chair Aaron Lawlor is girding his loins in an effort to legally terminate the still in-utero Lake County Election Commission. As readers of this blog are briefly aware ...

Does Money Really Buy Elections?

Lake County had been on a fast-track to get its own independent Election Commission. But now, according to the Daily Herald ...

Calling the measure illegal and unconstitutional, Lake County officials are seeking an injunction to stop a new state law that strips away the county clerk's election oversight. Lake County Board Chairman Aaron Lawlor filed a lawsuit Tuesday in Waukegan to halt the change, which Gov. Pat Quinn signed into law as part of a wide-reaching piece of election-related legislation. The law orders Lake County's chief judge to create a five-member commission that will manage future elections, starting with the spring primary.
Lake County seeking injunction to stop election law changes

Operatives are clamoring to know what to expect -- as if your LakeCountyEye is supposed to be Kreskin or somebody.  Luckily one expert who is disposed to sort it all out has stepped forward, Dr. I.M. Bhatschidtkhrazzi, Professor of Free Legal Advice at the College of Lake County.

Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi told your LakeCountyEye today, "Cover up all the shrubs, this has all the markings of an epic pissing match over whose hands pull the levers of power on Lake County."

Your LakeCountyEye concurred: voting is the foundation of democracy and this latest kerfuffle is not likely bode well with Lake County's voters.

But Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi was having none of that. "The voters? Haw haw, the voters don't even know when elections are held, let alone who is in charge of running those elections. The voters aren't going to notice anything before they see their tax bill."

Your LakeCountyEye then wanted to know how much a new election commission will cost.

Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi replied, "The County Chairman is quoting a figure of $600,000 -- but that money won't increase your tax bill because it will be coming out of the County Clerk's existing budget.  What they aren't telling anyone is that $600,000 will be chicken-food compared to legal expenses incurred from their lawsuit. The Lake County State's Attorney filed the suit on constitutional grounds.  One constitutional suit that went against the State of Illinois in 2005 cost taxpayers more than a million dollars."

Your LakeCountyEye concurred: a million dollars was by no means chicken-food.

"Or chimp change, for that matter.", Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi, continued. "And that's just the cost of a trial in some local Circuit Court. Add in the cost of appeals, all the way up to the Illinois Supreme Court, and then the US Supreme Court, and then the World Court at the Hague, and before you know it, Lake County will find itself in Bankruptcy Court!"

Before parting, your LakeCountyEye needed to know the most likely outcome of the lawsuit.

"Tell your operatives", said Dr. Bhatschidtkhrazzi, "that the smart money is betting on the Lake County State's Attorney to win this one. But subsequent DNA evidence will turn up and the suit will be thrown out on appeal."