Voters will decide: Madison County tax petition survives objections

Madison County voters will decide on a 5-cent tax reduction in November, after the petition to place the referendum on the ballot survived two challenges.

The county electoral board delivered its decision in a Madison County courtroom on Wednesday. Board chairman and county clerk Debra Ming-Mendoza said the board found more than 1,500 signatures invalid, but still kept the total number of valid signatures above the minimum required to put the referendum on the ballot.

The petition contained nearly 10,000 signatures calling for a vote to reduce Madison County’s tax rate by 5 cents. Proponents of the referendum say the county brings in more money than it needs; opponents say the cut will cause drastic budget cuts to services such as law enforcement.

In May, two former police officers separately filed objections to the petition: Ben Dickmann, who served as Edwardsville police chief and later city administrator for decades; and Richard Gillespie, who is now retired from the Alton Police Department. Both alleged that the petitions contain a significant number of invalid signatures and that two of the collectors falsified information on the signature sheets, among other objections.

Dickmann’s and Gillespie’s objections had been consolidated for consideration by the electoral board, which was comprised of Ming-Mendoza, former state’s attorney Stephanie Robbins and retired associate judge James Hackett. Hackett and Robbins were appointed to the board by Chief Judge David Hylla after all the other officers in the line of succession recused themselves, including State’s Attorney Tom Gibbons, Circuit Clerk Mark Von Nida, Treasurer Kurt Prenzler and Sheriff John Lakin.

Lakin and Gibbons had spoken publicly against the referendum as a danger to law enforcement; Von Nida had recently been elected chairman of the Madison County Democratic Party. Prenzler, a Republican, was one of the petitioners along with former Congressional candidate Mike Firsching, and is currently running for county chairman against incumbent Chairman Alan Dunstan. Former U.S. attorney Steve Wigginton provided legal counsel to the board.

The petition review began with a name-by-name check determining whether everyone who signed the petition was a registered voter at the address they listed, before addressing other objections about the manner in which the signatures were collected.

The board found that after the full binder check, a number of signatures were thrown out, but not a sufficient number to invalidate the petition. For example, some petition sheets were not sworn before a notary, and were those were deemed invalid. Others were objected to because the circulator’s address was questioned; those were deemed valid, because the board said the objectors did not meet a legal burden of proof.

The board also found that there was insufficient evidence of “a pattern of fraud” as alleged by the objections. For example, some of the circulators, primarily young college students, were paid $1 per signature, and those who were paid had a much higher error rate than unpaid circulators, according to the board’s report. The board found that that was “a poor practice at best,” but stopped short of calling it fraud.

“The board does not find blame with the young circulators, but with the proponents who failed to educate and train them,” the report read, naming the two primary circulators: Prenzler and his chief deputy, Doug Hulme, as responsible for training. At least one circulator — Demond Shaw — was paid in cash by Prenzler, which the board report called “particularly troubling.”

Dickmann said that practice was one of the reasons he filed the objection. While it is not illegal to pay circulators, Dickmann said he believes it gives rise to concern. “The temptation to submit to the sponsor as many signatures as possible, knowing each one has a dollar value, is worrisome,” he said.

Prenzler disagreed. “It’s not illegal, and we wanted to have accurate signatures,” Prenzler said. “I did my best to educate all (the circulators) on how to do their jobs.”

If the board had found that the number of invalid signatures brought it below the required number, the referendum would have been thrown out. The petitioners had already filed an objection to the review process, stating they did not believe it was necessary to check all 10,000 names and that the county clerk’s staff should not have been the ones to check the names because they are members of the AFSCME union.

Hackett said the board tried to avoid the “grand political drama” surrounding the contentious process. “I can assure you that politics never came up in our consideration of this; we are all from different backgrounds,” Hackett said. “From the beginning, from our first conversation, this referendum could have been on (any subject). We wanted to get it right and keep politics out of it, and I think we did so.”

Dickmann said he was satisfied with the board’s decision and believes they did a thorough job considering his objections. “I personally believe all petitions should undergo at least a cursory examination by opposing or concerned parties intended to ensure authenticity,” Dickmann said. “In this case, there were obvious examples of common authorship. Why the petitioners felt such blatant violations would go unnoticed and unchallenged is unclear.”

Specifically, the board found that:

• 487 signatures were deemed questionable, of which 119 were ultimately rejected after consulting a handwriting expert.

• 223 were rejected for an inaccurate or improper address.

• 43 had had their voter registration canceled, and 1,063 were not registered voters. Eight more registered after signing the petition.

• 19 signatures were rejected because the notary failed to place a seal and date as required.

• 65 signatures were rejected due to testimony of witnesses.

• 42 signatures were completely illegible.

• 113 were duplicate signatures.

• Several petition sheets were misnumbered, but the board decided that was not a fatal error and did not disqualify those signatures.

In total, the petition contained 9,985 signatures, of which 8,302 were valid. The minimum number required was 8,024.

Firsching said he considered it a complete success. “We get to get the question on the ballot... that was the goal all along,” he said.

Hackett said there was “a great deal of misinformation” about the board and its procedures, pointing out that the hearings held in the courthouse, the makeup of the electoral board, and the clerk’s office’s involvement were all required by statute.

“There were comments that this was an abuse; this is statutorily required,” Hackett said. “Some of the accusations against Debbie Ming-Mendoza on a personal level are inexcusable. Her office and her behavior was nothing short of exemplary. The sniping and the comments made in disparagement of her or the office are disappointing and shameful.”

Ming-Mendoza said it had been a “very stressful” experience. “It was an education, and I hope to take this experience with me going forward,” she said.

That next experience will be later this month; another objection has been filed in Madison County, this time objecting to independent Tyler Oberkfell’s petition for his candidacy for the county board. The original electoral board, consisting of Ming-Mendoza, Gibbons and Von Nida, has been summoned to appear on July 12.

In the meantime, the objectors have five days to file an appeal to the board’s decision, according to Wigginton. But it is not clear whether that appeal would go to the Madison County Circuit Court or to the state elections board, he said.

But Dickmann said he does not intend to appeal. “Frankly, I was looking at the bigger picture and feel the point has been made,” he said. “Even high school students who want to change their mascot's name know the importance of accurate and legitimate petitions with no common authorship of signatures. What is really disappointing is to learn how many people signed the petitions and are not even registered voters. That is a reflection of a sad situation prevalent in this great nation. People need to vote and become more involved in the process, regardless of who they have as a preferred candidate or cause.”

It was not immediately known if Gillespie intends to appeal.

This story was originally published July 6, 2016 at 11:45 AM with the headline "Voters will decide: Madison County tax petition survives objections."