IN THE ILLINOIS APPELLATE COURT, FIRST JUDICIAL DISTRICT

No. 1-18-0400

ANDREA RAILA, )
Petitioner-Appellant, ) Case No. 2018-COEL-19
v. ) CONSOLIDATED WITH
) Case No. 2018-COEL-21
THE COOK COUNTY OFFICERS )
ELECTORAL BOARD, et al ) Appeal from Circuit Court of Cook County
Respondents-Appellees. ) Judge Hon. Robert W. Bertucci

MOTION FOR LEAVE TO FILE A MOTION FOR RULE TO SHOW CAUSE WHY
RESPONDENT-APPELLEES CHICAGO BOARD OF ELECTION COMMISSIONERS
AND DAVID ORR, IN HIS OFFICIAL CAPACITY AS COOK COUNTY CLERK,
SHOULD NOT BE HELD IN CONTEMPT OF COURT

Now comes the Petitioner-Appellant, Andrea Raila, by her attorney, Pericles Abbasi, and

moves for leave to file a motion for Rule to Show Cause why Respondent-Appellees Chicago

Board of Election Commissioners and David Orr, in his official capacity as Cook County Clerk,

Should not be held in Contempt of Court. In support of this motion it is stated as follows:

1. In a Rule 23 Order on March 14, 2018, this Court reversed the decision of the

Cook County Electoral Board and the Circuit Court in this ballot access case. This Court ruled

that Petitioner-Appellant Andrea Raila had submitted in excess of the statutory minimum of

8,236 valid signatures and was a valid candidate for the Democratic nomination for Cook County

Assessor. This court ordered that votes for Ms. Raila be counted. Thirty-five days have passed

and no Petition for Leave to Appeal this Court’s order has been filed with the Illinois Supreme

Court.

2. Respondent-Appellee Chicago Board of Election Commissioners is the Election

Authority for the City of Chicago and was responsible for ensuring that votes for Ms. Raila in the

March 20, 2018 primary election be counted.

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 3. Respondent-Appellee David Orr, in his official capacity as Cook County Clerk, is

the Election Authority for the City of Chicago and was responsible for ensuring that votes for

Ms. Raila in the March 20, 2018 primary election be counted.

4. Prior to this Court’s March 14, 2018 Order, the Chicago Board of Election

Commissioners and the Cook County Clerk (collectively “the Election Authorities”) had printed

ballots and programmed touch-screen voting with Ms. Raila’s name on them as a candidate for

Assessor. This is because, despite the Cook County Officers Electoral Board erroneously

removing Ms. Raila from the ballot, they would not have had time to reprint the ballots or

logistically been able to reprogram the voting machines in the event that Ms. Raila was restored

to the ballot. However, signs were posted in voting booths informing early voters that votes for

Ms. Raila (and a candidate for County Clerk) would not count. Early voters were handed out

sheets of paper that stated that votes for Ms. Raila would not count. Absentee voters received a

sheet of paper saying votes for Ms. Raila would not count. Full page ads were placed in weekly

newspapers stating that votes for Ms. Raila would not count.

5. After this Court’s Order, the Election Authorities apparently took down notices

from early voting machines that votes for Andrea would not count. They ceased to hand out the

sheet of paper saying votes for Ms. Raila would not be counted. By the time of the Court’s

order, County Clerk records show 52,945 voters had already voted early in Suburban Cook

County, and a similar number voted early in the City. Supporters had informed Ms. Raila that

they would have voted for her but for the fact they were told their votes would not count.

6. Despite Ms. Raila’s requests, no effort was made by the Election Authorities to

inform the voters that they were erroneous when they previously claimed that votes for Ms. Raila

would not count. No outreach was made to absentee voters who were previously informed that

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their votes for Ms. Raila would not count. No ads were placed in newspapers stating that Ms.

Raila was on the ballot despite the fact that full-page ads appeared in weekly newspapers such as

the Red Eye stating that Ms. Raila was not on the ballot even after this Court ruled that her votes

must be counted.

7. Further, the packets for Election Day Election Judges all contained flyers stating

that votes for Ms. Raila would not be counted. The Election Authorities made no effort to

remove these flyers from the packets after this Court’s order, essentially guaranteeing that

confusion would occur on Election Day.

8. Just after 6 A.M. on the morning of Election Day, the Chicago Board of Election

Commissioners sent a text message to the Election Judges in every precinct stating: “This is a

message from Election Central – Hand out the green ‘Notice to All Democratic Voters’ flyer

with every Democratic ballot. Thank you – Chicago BOE.” These flyers stated that votes for

Andrea Raila would not count because she was removed by Court Order, and they had a green

line struck through her name. These flyers were handed out to voters and posters were hung on

the wall in polling places stating the same false information. Immediately on Election Day

morning, Ms. Raila received calls from supporters in Chicago and in suburban Cook County that

they were handed information that her votes would not be counted. While the Cook County

Clerk did not have a similar “text blast,” since they did not remove the flyers from the Election

Judge packet, they created a situation where it would be inevitable that some judges hand out

erroneous flyers. News media and social media reports of the occurrences on Election Day are

included with this filing, as are transcripts of reports from voters who called or emailed the

candidate on Election Day or the day after. Also included are affidavits from voters and

photographs from polling places on Election Day.

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 9. Therefore, the Election Authorities acted in contempt of this Court’s order that

Ms. Raila’s votes be counted. They did nothing to inform voters that Ms. Raila was on the ballot

despite the fact that ads were appearing in papers distributed after this Court’s Order still

claiming that she was removed. They did not inform voters who received absentee ballots with a

notice that Ms. Raila was removed from the ballot that they could in fact vote for her. They did

not remove flyers from the Election Judge packets stating that Ms. Raila’s votes would not be

counted. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners sent out a text instructing Election

Judges to inform voters that Ms. Raila was not on the ballot in open defiance of this Court’s

order. The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners claims that the text was pre-programmed

and they neglected to cancel it. However, that does not excuse their actions and inactions. All of

these actions meant that the Election Authorities did not follow this Court’s order that votes for

Ms. Raila be counted – as they continued to engage in actions that resulted in voters believing

that they could not vote for Ms. Raila. In order to fully understand what happened, this Court

should grant Ms. Raila discovery or else we cannot be sure that these events will not be repeated.

10. Additionally, candidate Raila spoke with Cook County Clerk David Orr as well as

the Executive Director and Communications Director of the Chicago Board of Election

Commissioners on the night before the election. She prepared transcripts of these conversations

with these parties which are included in the filing. In these conversations, the Election

Authorities ensured Ms. Raila that no problems would ensue due to notices stating votes for her

would not count still being in the election judge’s packets. The events of Election Day

demonstrated that these assurances were hollow. These transcripts and the other documentation

submitted are accompanied by an affidavit from Ms. Raila attesting to their accuracy.

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 11. If the Election Authorities are not found to be in contempt of this Court’s order

and not sanctioned appropriately, they will have no disincentive to not carelessly prejudice and

violate the fundamental civil rights of candidates in the future. Because complex petition

challenges will continue to overlap with the ever-earlier start of early voting, there will be future

candidates in the same position as Ms. Raila. The Election Authorities will repeat their actions

that can at best be described as careless and reckless unless they face consequences for their

misdeeds. A finding of contempt here is necessary to fully apprise the General Assembly of the

need to take action to rectify what will become a recurring problem. As such, this Court should

grant Petitioner-Appellant Andrea Raila leave to file a Motion for Rule to Show Cause why

Respondent-Appellees Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and David Orr, in his official

capacity as Cook County Clerk, Should not be held in Contempt of Court. Additionally, this

Court should order the parties to jointly propose appropriate briefing and discovery schedules.

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons it is respectfully requested that this Honorable

Court grant this motion for leave to file a Motion for Rule to Show Cause why Respondent-

Appellees Chicago Board of Election Commissioners and David Orr, in his official capacity as

Cook County Clerk, Should not be held in Contempt of Court and further instruct the parties to

propose schedules for briefing and discovery, and for such other relief as the Court deems just.

Respectfully Submitted,
ANDREA RAILA

_________________________
By one of her attorneys
Pericles Abbasi (ARDC No. 6312209)
Attorney for Petitioner-Appellant
6969 W. Wabansia Ave, Chicago, IL 60707
Telephone: (773) 368-5423
Facsimile: (773) 309-8884
Email: Pericles@UChicago.edu