Auditor referendum invalid?

PEORIA, IL -- The auditor referendum question on the Peoria County ballot was filed late and therefore is invalid, Peoria activist  Kerry Alms said at a news conference today, Sept. 28.

The deadline to file a referendum was August 22, but Alms showed the petition dated August 26, four days late.

The referendum question, filed by the executive committee of the Peoria County Board,  asks voters to vote 'yes' or 'no' to keep the auditor office. Voters refused to eliminate it in a previous vote two years ago.

Alms showed two petitions, one filed with errors on August 22, and the corrected  but late petition filed four days later. It also contains the phrase "nunc pro tunc" which is supposedly Latin for 'substitution.'

Its wording is slightly different from the first petition, raising the issue of when it was approved, and whether there was an Open Meetings Act violation, Alms said.

A lawsuit in Peoria County Circuit Court has been filed seeking an injunction, she said. A hearing is scheduled for Sept. 30. The ballots have already been printed, and the first day of early voting is Sept. 30.The general election is Nov. 8.

I am voting 'no' to eliminate the auditor office as it is part of the checks and balances of county government.

-- Elaine Hopkins

UPDATE: The judge refused to approve an injunction.  Not sure what happens next as appeals are expensive.  Just vote 'no' on this referendum.