BEFORE THE DULY CONSTITUTED ELECTORAL BOARD

FOR THE HEARING AND PASSING UPON OBJECTIONS

Sarah Gad, )
)
Petitioner-Objector )
)
v. )
)
Bobby L. Rush,

Respondent-Candidate

OBJECTOR’S PETITION

Introduction

Now comes Sarah Gad (herein referred to as the “Objector”), and states as follows:

1. The Objector resides at 967 East 61st Street, City of Chicago, State of
Illinois, 60637, and is a duly qualified, legal and registered voter at this
address.
2. The Objector’s interest in filing this petition (“Petition”) is that of voter and
candidate desirous that the laws governing the filing of nomination papers
(“Nomination Papers”) for the Office of U.S. House of Representatives in the
1st Congressional District (“Office”) be substantially complied with, and that
only qualified candidates appear on the ballot for said Office.

OBJECTIONS

3. The Objector makes the following objections to the purported Nomination

Papers of Bobby L. Rush (the “Candidate”) of 3534 South Calumet Avenue,
Chicago IL 60653, as Candidate for nomination to the Office to be voted on at
the Consolidated Primary Election on March 17, 2020 (“Election”). The
Objector states that the Candidate’s Nomination Papers are insufficient in fact
and in law on the follow grounds:

4. Pursuant to state law, nomination papers for U.S. House of Representatives in

the 1st Congressional District of Illinois must contain not fewer than 1,230
signatures from qualified, registered legal voters within said district collected
in a manner prescribed by law. Nomination Papers must be gathered and
presented in the manner provided for in the Illinois Election Code, and
otherwise executed in the form provided by law.
 5. Illinois Election Code mandates, inter alia, that all petition sheets comprising
the Candidate’s Nomination Papers be: (1) numbered in a consecutive fashion;
(2) contain a completed circulator’s statement certifying the circulator’s age,
address, citizenship information, the date in which the signatures were
collected, and that the signatures were signed in his or her presence, are
genuine and, to the best of the circulator’s knowledge, signed by qualified
electors in the proper political subdivision in which the Candidate is seeking
office; and (3) certified and sworn to in the presence of a notary public.1

6. This "consecutive page number" requirement is not simply a mundane rule or

formalistic trap. Rather, it aids those persons who must comb through
voluminous pages of a nominating petition in identifying specific pages and
locating information contain therein.2 The numbering requirement also guards
against tampering, thereby preserving the integrity of the submitted
Nomination Papers and the election process as a whole.3 Without page
numbers that are accurately numbered in a consecutive fashion, there is no
way to effectively ascertain whether additional pages were later inserted or
whether original pages were missing.

7. The Nomination Papers submitted by the Candidate are not consecutively

numbered as required by Section 10-4 of the Illinois Election Code. The petition
sheets constituting the Candidate’s Nomination Papers are numbered “1”
through “322,” despite having submitted a total of 332 petition sheets.
Candidate’s Nomination Papers are replete with numbering discrepancies,
duplicate page numbers, and evidence of tampering. Accordingly, Candidate’s
failure to substantially comply with the consecutive numbering requirement of
petition sheets invalidates the Nomination Papers.4

8. The Nomination Papers submitted by the Candidate contain two sets of

petition sheets marked “110” through “119.” The duplicate page numbers, as
specifically set forth in the attached Addendum to Objections, are not
accidental copies of the same petition sheets, but are in fact different petition
sheets bearing different dates and signatures, but the same sheet number.

9. The first set of petition sheets labeled “110” through “119” (subsequent to sheet
“109”), as specifically set forth in the attached Addendum to Objections, are

1
10 ILCS 5/7-10, 8-8, 10-4.
2
El-Abdoudi v. Thompson, 293 Ill.App.3d 191, 687 N.E.2d 1166 (Second Dist. 1997).
3
Id.; Hagen v. Stone, 277 Ill. App. 3d 388, 391, 660 N.E.2d 189 (1995); Jones v. Dodendorf,
190 Ill. App. 3d 557, 560, 546 N.E.2d 92 (1989).
4
See Mitchell, Scheff and Zuckerman v. Smith, 99- EB-ALD-113 (Chicago Electoral Board
1999) (holding that the consecutive numbering requirement is mandatory rather than directory,
and failure to comply invalidates the nominating papers).
 either undated entirely, or dated either September 25, 2019 or November 23,
2019; the second set of petitions sheets labeled "“110” through “119” (which
come immediately after page the first set) are all dated September 25, 2019.

10. The Nomination Papers containing two separate sets of petition sheets marked
“110” through “119” throw off the remaining set of Nomination Papers by a
factor of 10 (hence the submission of 332 Papers only labeled through “322”).
Candidate’s failure to correctly number a substantial portion of petition sheets
in a consecutive manner violates Section 10-4 of the Election Code and
invalidates the improperly numbered sheets.5

11. The Nomination Papers fail to substantially comply with the numbering
requirements set forth by Section 10-4 to the extent that it is difficult to even
specify which sheet numbers are being objected to. Accordingly, all 222 sheets
subsequent to sheet “109” should be stricken as invalid, as every page
thereafter is improperly numbered. Striking these pages as invalid is
necessary on grounds of fairness to other candidates who substantially
complied with the numbering requirement and to preserve the integrity of the
electoral process.

12. The Nomination Papers contain several sheets that appear to have been
tampered with. The manner in which both sets of pages “110” through “119”
were dated and numbered, as specifically set forth in the attached Addendum
to Objections, suggests that these pages were tampered with and must be
stricken as invalid.

13. The Nomination Papers include petition sheets in which the original sheet
number is crossed out and arbitrarily relabeled with a different number,
suggesting further evidence of tampering. For instance, three petition sheets
appear to have been originally marked as “Sheet No. 8,” but the number “8”
was scribbled out and arbitrarily remarked as “63,” “119” (119-2), and “212.”
These and other discrepancies, as specifically set forth in the attached
Addendum to Objections, undermine the integrity of the Nomination Papers in
their entirety.

14. The crossing out and relabeling of petition sheets, as set forth in attached
Addendum to Objections, evidences a pattern of tampering and fraud, and calls
into question the integrity of the Candidate’s Nominating Papers as a whole.6

5
Id.
6
See Straughn v. Bembynista, 14-EB-RES04 (Chicago Electoral Board 2014) (explaining that
when a pattern of fraud, false swearing and a total disregard for the mandatory requirements of
the Election Code is established, all sheets circulated or sworn to/by the individual guilty of such
conduct should be stricken in their entirety)
 To protect the integrity of the electoral process, the Candidate’s Nomination
Papers in their entirety must be stricken as invalid.7

15. The Nomination Papers include petition sheets that are undated, in direct
violation of the Illinois Election Code. Per Section 10-4 of the Election Code, no
petition sheet may be circulated more than 90 days preceding the last day for
the filing of such petition. This statutory provision is mandatory, not directory,
and failure to include a date invalidates those sheets.8 Candidate submitted 30
undated petition sheets, as set forth in the Addendum to Objections and
Appendix-Recapitulation, left of the objection “Dates of circulation not given or
incomplete.”

16. The Nomination Papers include petition sheets in which the circulator’s
statement/affidavit portion is completely blank. Proper certification of the
circulator’s statement before a notary public is mandatory and a violation of
this section invalidates the petition sheet.9 Candidate submitted 16 petition
sheets absent a properly completed circulator’s statement, as is set forth
specifically in the Appendix-Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated
herein, left of the objection “Circulator’s affidavit not properly notarized.”

17. The Nomination Papers contain multiple sheets in which the circulator’s
address is either invalid or incomplete, as is specifically set forth in the
attached Addendum to Objections and in the Appendix-Recapitulation, left of
the objection, “Circulator’s address is incomplete or missing,” in violation of the
Illinois Election Code.

18. Failure to comply with any of the mandatory provisions of the Election Code
invalidates the petition sheet of the circulator charged with noncompliance. A
consistent pattern of noncompliance, total disregard for Election Code, and/or
a demonstrated pattern of fraud invalidates all petitions involving the party
guilty of fraud or noncompliance.10

19. The Nomination Papers contain petition sheets purportedly circulated by

Harvey Cook that are replete with discrepancies, errors and evince a pattern
of fraud. Upon information and belief, Candidate submitted 43 petitions sheets
purportedly circulated by Harvey Cook containing fraudulent signatures, as is

7
See Fortas v. Dixon, 122 Ill.App.3d 697, 462 N.E.2d 615 (1984) (explaining when a pattern of
fraud, false swearing and a total disregard for the mandatory requirements of the Election Code
is established, the petition sheets should be stricken in their entirety).
8
Murphy v. Jones, 88-EB-SMAY-7 (Chicago Electoral Board 1989); Johnson v. Williams, 03-
EB-ALD014 (Chicago Electoral Board 2003).
9
Bowe v. Chicago Electoral Board, 79 Ill.2d 469, 404 N.E.2d 180 (1980.
10
Straughn v. Bembynista, 14-EB-RES04 (Chicago Electoral Board 2014). Dixon, 122
Ill.App.3d at 697.
 set forth specifically in the attached Addendum to Objections and Appendix-
Recapitulation, left of the objection “Circulator’s signature not genuine.” In
particular, the signatures on all of Harvey Cook’s petition sheets bear no
resemblance to the actual signature on Mr. Cook’s driver’s license and voter
registration card. See Attached Exhibit A.

20. The Nomination Papers contain petition sheets purportedly circulated by

Harvey Cook that fail to include a circulator’s oath, a date, and/or a valid
address. Failure to include any one of these items invalidates a petition sheet;
consistently failing include these items evinces a total disregard for the
Election Code and renders all of the circulator’s petition sheets invalid.11 The
manifest errors and discrepancies in Circulator Harvey Cook’s petition sheets,
as is set forth specifically in the attached Addendum to Objections and
Appendix-Recapitulation, are to such a degree that every petition sheet
circulated by this circulator should be stricken as invalid to protect the
integrity of the electoral process.

21. The Nomination Papers notarized by Darva Watkins are replete with
discrepancies, false swearing, a pattern of notarial misconduct, and total
disregard for Illinois Election Code and the Illinois Notary Public Act. Upon
information and belief, Watkins notarized petition sheets of 10 circulators in
their absence and without properly verifying the identity of those circulators,
as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to Objections and Appendix-
Recapitulation, left of the objection “Circulator’s did not appear before a
notary,” in violation of the Election Code

22. Notary Watkins notarized an additional 20 petition sheets submitted by 6

circulators (including Harvey Cook) that were missing a circulators oath, date,
and/or signature, as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to Objections and
Appendix-Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated herein, left of the
objection “Circulator’s affidavit not properly notarized,” in violation of the
Election Code.

23. The petition sheets certified by Notary Watkins evince a pattern of total
disregard for the Election Code and the Illinois Notary Public Act. Upon
information and belief, as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to
Objections, Watkins notarized dozens of petitions absent a date, a completed
circulator’s statement, the circulator’s signature, and in some cases, all three.

24. Watkins was in fact the notary for all petitions bearing duplicate page
numbers, all sheets whose original page numbers were scribbled out and
relabeled, all petition sheets circulated by Mr. Cook, and all petition sheets for

11
Id.
 5 additional circulators whose listed incorrect addresses on their circulator’s
oath, as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to Objections.

25. Notary Watkins’ pattern of willful misconduct and complete disregard for
Election Code and state law, as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to
Objections, calls into serious question the integrity and validity of all 267
petition sheets notarized by Notary Watkins to such an extent that all 267
petition sheets certified by Watkins should be stricken as invalid to protect the
integrity of the electoral process.12

26. Petition sheets 10, 11, 43, 44, 45, and 134 contain a circulator’s oath where the
circulator’s purports to reside at 6745 S. Crandon, Chicago, IL 60649. However,
upon information and belief, Circulator Mary Suggs legally resides at 5500 S.
Shore Dr. Chicago, IL, 60637. Accordingly, all 6 petition sheets circulated by
Suggs are false and perjurious, and should be stricken in their entirety. See
the Appendix-Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated herein, left of
the objection “Circulator does not reside at the address shown.”

27. Petition sheets 138, 139, 140, 141, and 142 contain a circulator’s oath where
the circulator’s purports to reside at 7021 S. Woodlawn. However, upon
information and belief, Circulator Phillip Dietz legally resides at 1506 E 77th
St., Chicago, IL 60619. Each and every one of these circulator’s oaths on these
5 petition sheets, all of which were notarized by Darva Watkins, are false and
perjurious, and must be stricken in their entirety. See the Appendix-
Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated herein, left of the objection
“Circulator does not reside at the address shown.”

28. Petition sheets 169 and 202 contain a circulator’s oath where the circulator’s
purports to reside at 39843 S. Lake Park Ave., Chicago, IL 60653. However,
upon information and belief, Circulator Qadree McClure legally resides at 8544
S May St., Chicago, IL 60620. Each and every one of these circulator’s oaths on
these 2 petition sheets, all of which were notarized by Darva Watkins, are false
and perjurious, and must be stricken in their entirety. See the Appendix-
Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated herein, left of the objection
“Circulator does not reside at the address shown.

29. Petition sheets 55, 56, 57, 58, 65, 66, 67, 68, ad 69 contain a circulator’s oath
where the circulator’s purports to reside at 123 S. Lowe, Chicago IL 60619
However, upon information and belief, Circulator Desmond McGee resides at
1119 W 72nd St. Chicago, IL 60621. Each and every one of these circulator’s

12
Per Illinois Election Code, when a pattern of fraud, false swearing and a total disregard for the
mandatory requirements of the Election Code is established, all sheets circulated or sworn to/by
the individual guilty of such conduct should be stricken in their entirety (Straughn v. Bembynista,
14-EB-RES04 (Chicago Electoral Board 2014).
 oaths on these 9 petition sheets, all of which were notarized by Darva Watkins,
false and perjurious, and must be stricken in their entirety. See the Appendix-
Recapitulation attached hereto and incorporated herein, left of the objection
“Circulator does not reside at the address shown.”

30. Petition sheets 174, 175, 176, and 177 do not contain the circulator’s real name,
as is set forth specifically in the Addendum to Objections. In particular,
Circulator Raafat Mizyed completed the circulator statement and affidavit
using the nickname “Ray,” and Notary Public Catherine Johnson
acknowledged Circulator Mizyed’s statement in the absence of his true and
correct name. Accordingly, all 4 petition sheets circulated by Circulator Mizyed
are invalid must be stricken in their entirety.

31. The Addendum to Objections and Appendix-Recapitulation is incorporated

herein and the objections made therein are a part of this Objector's Petition.

CONCLUSION
WHEREFORE, the Objector requests a hearing on the objections set forth
herein, an examination by the aforesaid Electoral Board of the official records
relating to voters in the applicable district, to the extent that such examination
is pertinent to any of the matters alleged herein, a ruling that the Nomination
Papers are insufficient in law and fact, and a ruling that the name of Bobby L.
Rush shall not appear and not be printed on the ballot for election to the office
of the U.S. House of Representatives in the 1st Congressional District to be
voted at the Consolidated Election on March 17, 2020.

Objector, Sarah Gad
December 9th, 2019
 Addendum to Objections

Duplicate Page Numbers (Objection 8):

i. Sheets “1” through “109” are consecutively numbered. However, page “109” is
immediately followed by two sets of sheets marked “110” through “119.” The
two sets of sheets marked “110” through “119” are not merely duplicates; they are
in fact two separate sets of petitions containing different signatures and dates, but
bearing the same sheet numbers.
1. Sheet 110(1) is undated and circulated by Betty Hawkins; Sheet 110(2)
is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by Harvey Cook
2. Sheet 111(1) is undated and circulated by Betty Hawkins; Sheet 111(2)
is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by Harvey Cook
3. Sheet 112(1) is undated and circulated by Betty Hawkins; Sheet 112(2)
is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by Harvey Cook
4. Sheet 113(1) is undated and circulated by Betty Hawkins; Sheet 113(2)
is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by Harvey Cook
5. Sheet 114(1) is undated and circulated by Betty Hawkins; Sheet 114(2)
is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by Harvey Cook
6. Sheet 115(1) is dated September 20, 2019 and circulated by Ricky
Morrow; Sheet 115(2) is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by
Harvey Cook
7. Sheet 116(1) is dated is dated November 23, 2019 and circulated by
Jeffrey Rush; Sheet 116(2) is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated
by Carolyn Shelby
8. Sheet 117(1) is dated is dated November 23, 2019 and circulated by
Cynthia Potts; Sheet 117(2) is dated September 25, 2019 and
circulated by Carolyn Shelby
9. Sheet 118(1) is dated is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by
Harvey Cook; Sheet 118(2) is dated September 25, 2019 and
circulated by Carolyn Shelby
10. Sheet 119(1) is dated is dated September 25, 2019 and circulated by
Harvey Cook; Sheet 119(2) is dated September 25, 2019 and
circulated by Carolyn Shelby
ii. The duplicate labeling of sheets “110” through “119” throws off the remainder of
the sheet numbers by a factor of 10, hence the submission of 332 sheets only
labeled through “322.”

Tampered Pages (Objections 12-14):

i. One sheet was originally labeled sheet “2,” but was scribbled out and
relabeled as “64.”
ii. One sheet was originally labeled sheet “5” but was scribbled out and
relabeled as “116” (second sheet 116)
iii. Two sheets were originally labeled sheet “6,” but were scribbled out
and relabeled as sheets “92” and “117.”
 iv. Two sheets were originally labeled sheet “7” but were scribbled out
add relabeled as sheets “118” and “212.”
v. Three sheets were originally labeled sheet “8” but were scribbled out
add relabeled as sheets “63,” “119” (second sheet 119), and “212.”
vi. Two sheets were originally labeled sheet “9,” but were scribbled out
and relabeled as “38” and “120.”

Lack of Date (Objection 15)

I. 30 petition sheets fail to include the date in which those petitions were
circulated:
i. Sheets 109, 110(1)-114(1) (circulated by Betty Hawkins, notarized by
Darva Watkins)
ii. Sheets 182, 317 (circulated by Tony Marshall, notarized by Darva
Watkins
iii. Sheet 196 (circulated by Vernatta Yarber, notarized by Darva Watkins
iv. Sheets 294 (circulated by Robert Bangmon, notarized by Darva
Watkins)
v. Sheets 302-304, 310, 316, 320, 321 (circulated by Harvey Cook,
notarized by Darva Watkins)
vi. Sheets 305-306 (circulated by Zonda Lord, notarized by Darva Watkins)
vii. Sheets 307-308 (circulated by Emanate Coulter, notarized by Darva
Watkins)
viii. Sheets 309, 318 (circulated by LaTonya Tucker, notarized by Darva
Watkins)
ix. Sheets 311-312 (circulated by Alphonse Kidd, notarized by Darva
Watkins)
x. Sheets 313-315 (circulated by James Price, notarized by Darva
Watkins)
xi. Sheets 319 (circulated by Michael Vassar, notarized by Darva Watkins)
xii. Sheet 322 (circulated by Ricky Morrow, notarized by Darva Watkins)

Absent Circulator’s Oath/Affidavit (Objection 15):

i. Sheets 302, 303, 310, 316, 320, 321 (circulated by Harvey Cook)
ii. Sheets 307, 308 (circulated by Emanate Coulte)
iii. Sheets 309, 318 (circulated by LaTonya Tucker)
iv. Sheets 311-312 (circulated by Alphonse Kidd)
v. Sheets 313-315 (circulated by James Price)
vi. Sheet 322 (circulated by Ricky Morrow)

Circulator Misconduct (Objection 15)

i. Several of Mr. Cook’s petition fail to include a completed circulated
statement as mandated by 10-4 of the Election Code:
1. Sheets 302, 303, 304, 319, 316, 320, 321
 ii. Several of Mr. Cook’s petitions fail to include the date in which the
petition was circulated as mandated by 10-4 of the Election Code:
1. Sheets 302, 303, 304, 310, 316, 320, 321)
iii. All of Mr. Cook’s petition sheets fail to list a valid zip code and/or
address entirely, as mandated 10-4 of the Election Code by
iv. All 43 petition sheets circulated and submitted by Harvey Cook bear a
signature that does not even closely resemble the signature on Mr.
Cook’s voter registration card or driver’s license
v. All of Mr. Cook’s petition sheets were notarized by the same notary,
Darva Watkins, who committed multiple acts of notarial misconduct in
the signing and certification of multiple petitions

Notary Misconduct (Objection 16)

vii. Upon information and belief, Watkins notarized and acknowledged 15
circulator statements from 6 different circulators in the absence of
those circulators:
a. Harvey Cook (Sheets 302, 303, 310, 311, 316, 320, 321)
b. Emanate Coulter (Sheets 307, 308)
c. LaTonya Ticker (Sheets 309, 318)
d. James Price (Sheets 314, 315)
e. Alphonse Kidd (Sheet 312)
f. Ricky Morrow (Sheet 321)
ii. Upon information and belief, Watkins notarized 64 petition sheets from
6 different circulators without verifying the proper identification. In
particular, Watkins notarized the petitions of all four circulators whose
listed addresses and/or signatures do not match those on their drivers’
licenses or voter registration cards:
a. Mary Suggs (Sheets 10, 11, 43, 44, 45, 134)
b. Desmond McGee (Sheets 55, 56, 57, 58, 65, 66, 67, 68, 69)
c. Philip Dietz (Sheets 138, 142)
d. Qadree McClure (Sheets 169, 202)
e. Lennox Martin (Sheets 126, 127)
f. Harvey Cook (Sheets 29, 30, 31, 77, 78, 79, 94, 95, 96, 97, 118(1),
119(1), 110(2), 111(2), 112(2), 113(2), 114(2), 115(2), 147, 148,
149, 150, 190, 191, 226, 227, 251, 265, 257, 258, 259, 260, 278,
279, 280, 281, 302, 303, 304, 310, 316, 320, 321).
II. Upon information and belief, Notary Public Catherine Marie Johnson failed
to verify the identity of the circulator of sheets belonging to one Raafat
Mizyed
i. Johnson notarized 5 petition sheets (174, 175, 176, and 177) circulated
and signed by “Ray Mizyed,” although Mizyed’s legal name listed on his
driver’s license and voter registration card is “Raafat Mizyed.”



A (1) Circulator Harvey Cook’s purported signature on
circulation sheets

A (2) Circulator Harvey Cook’s authentic signature on
voter registration card