Winfield Village President John Kirschbaum’s name has been removed from the April 5 ballot because of errors on his nominating petition.
An electoral commission of three village trustees Wednesday night removed his name after scrutinizing nine pages of signatures, throwing out two because both were numbered “1” and voiding 30 names. That left Kirschbaum’s petition of 135 signatures with less than the 106 names required.
The commission, Tom McClow, Chris Mackowiak and Dale Bianco, was challenged at the outset when Kirschbaum’s attorney, George Grumley, motioned that the three recuse themselves because of potential conflicts of interest.
The three have links to Citizens For Winfield, a political activist group headed by Ed Quinn, who filed the objection to Kirschbaum’s nominating petition. Both McClow and Mackowiak are endorsed by the organization in the April election, and Bianco is its treasurer.
The panel voted down Grumley’s motion and for the next four hours the trustees pored over Kirschbaum’s petition.
Before the night was over, the commission would void 43 names from Kirschbaum’s petition, most over address technicalities and notarization miscues, leaving 92 signatures.
Kirschbaum’s attorney will determine Kirschbaum’s next move. Grumley said he would file an appeal Friday or next week in DuPage Circuit Court.
“We think the Electoral Board erred in throwing out the first two pages of the petition,” Grumley said, “and also they erred in people’s use of ditto marks” in addresses.
One of Kirschbaum’s endorsers, Cary Youman, testified under Quinn attorney Phillip Leutkehans’ questioning that he signed the petition Jan. 16, five days after it had been notarized. Youman revealed this in a phone call from Mackowiak, who told Quinn.
In testimony, Quinn acknowledged that local businessman Tom Saylor (this name as published has been corrected in this text) assisted him in scrutinizing the petitions for signature and address flaws.
