The Stand-In Corrected

A press release from the Illinois Libertarian Party was reproduced today on the Capitol Fax Blog:

On June 23, the Libertarian Party of Illinois filed 43,921 petition signatures to gain ballot access for their full slate of statewide candidates for the 2014 general election. On June 30, Lake Forest resident Lou Atsaves and Highland Park resident Gary Gale filed an objection to 23,791 of those signatures. Kelly McCloskey, Chief Hearing Officer for the Illinois State Board of Elections, held an initial hearing regarding the objection on July 7. The Objectors did not appear at the hearing; they were represented by John Fogarty, general counsel for the Illinois Republican Party. This raises an important question: who are these Objectors and who is financing the undertaking to deny the people of Illinois an additional choice in the voting booth this November?
Libertarians object to apparent GOP-backed petition challenge

Were anyone hip enough at the Libertarian Party, they would be asking instead: Who is John Fogarty? That's because, readers of this blog will instantly recognize name of LakeCountyEye frequent commenter, Louis Atsaves.

Atsaves, many ops will tell you, is the Moraine Township Republican Chair and has a history of filing ballot objections in Illinois:

Q the Eye/12.12.13

Now, even someone who has just fallen under the campaign bus knows why Atsaves was AWOL at that initial hearing. Who would be in any condition to attend a IL SBE hearing after inspecting 43,921 petition signatures and filing 23,791 objections? The paper cuts alone from looking at that many petition pages would be enough to require a trip to the ER for a blood transfusion. If not many!

A petition objector is only given about a week -- so it is unknown how many gallons of coffee and all-nighters went into looking at some 44,000 signatures. Simply lugging a box of that many petitions to the Starbucks and back has been known to incur hernia in the burliest of men!

Factor in the myopia caused by examining 43,921 signatures thru a magnifying glass, and the repetitive stresses suffered from filling out 23,791 objection forms, and you are looking at one operative who is lucky to be standing on both feet!

Rather than small-minded Libertarian imprecations, Louis Atsaves deserves a hearty attaboy from every op in Illinois. How many among you would be so willing to take one 43,921 for the team?!