As state election officials conduct the tedious work of examining thousands of lines on nominating petitions for two independent candidates for the 4th Congressional race, Chicago law enforcement is investigating a late night bombing at the home of one of those candidates.
Chicago Police Bomb and Arson officers are investigating an explosion of what is believed to have been a large firework outside the home of 25th Ward Chicago Alderman Byron Sigcho-Lopez that occurred around 12:45 a.m. Saturday.
The Sigcho Lopez campaign said in a statement that video surveillance showed a man step out of an SUV, light an explosive device in front of the home, and run back to the vehicle as the device explodes. A house window was shattered, but no injuries were reported.
Sigcho-Lopez said in the statement that the possibility of “targeted political violence” would not stop his campaign.
Meanwhile, officials from both the Sigcho-Lopez and Mayra Macias campaigns and the objectors to their petitions spent last Thursday and Friday working with various election officials at the offices of the Illinois State Board of Elections in downtown Chicago, going over each individual objection to Sigcho-Lopez’s and Macias’ petitions. The two-day examination reportedly found several thousand lines on Sigcho-Lopez’s petitions invalid for a variety of reasons, leaving him 1,222 signatures under the required 10,816 required to qualify for the ballot, according to Politico Playbook.
Many of the objections to the petition signer not being registered at the address shown on the petition sheet were sustained, while many of the objections based on invalid signatures were overruled. Signatures were also invalidated due to the signer having been found to live outside the boundaries of the 4th Congressional district.
Those findings can still be challenged by the Sigcho-Lopez campaign. Resolution of the petition objection process can take into the first week in August.
The two sets of objections to Sigcho-Lopez’s and Macias’ petitions have forced their campaigns to retain veteran election lawyers to defend them.
Case management conferences will be held June 18, with a formal hearing to be scheduled for the week of June 22-26.