Vasselli Law Wins Lake County Election Challenge; Court Orders Sanchez Votes Not Counted (Waukegan, IL) — When it comes to elections rules matter, a point Vasselli Law proved in an important victory a Lake County judge handed the firm and its client, David J. Villalobos , by upholding the challenge to Jorge E. Sanchez’s nomination for the Lake County Board’s 9th District.
In an order dated Sept. 28, Judge Daniel L. Jasica affirmed the Lake County Officers Electoral Board’s decision sustaining Villalobos’s objection. The court found that Sanchez’s nomination papers omitted a date required by the Illinois Election Code: the date the vacancy in the nomination occurred.
“This was not a clerical error,” said James Vasselli, founding partner at Vasselli said. “This was a violation of the rules – rules that must apply equally to all candidates.”
The vacancy arose after longtime County Board member Mary Ross Cunningham died in June. The Republican central committee later selected Sanchez to fill the party’s vacancy in the nomination. But the court ruled that the required date of the underlying office vacancy was absent from the appointment notice.
Sanchez argued that the papers substantially complied with the law and relied on an earlier case involving an incorrect date. The court rejected that comparison. It found that this case involved a complete omission of a required date, not a clerical error, and held that the missing information mattered because it helps election officials and potential objectors determine whether the nomination followed the Election Code’s timing and authority requirements.
“Cases like this are important because they set a precedent that will be used in determining the outcome of future cases,” Vasselli said. “Election cases tend to have similar issues that arise and judges tend to rely on precedent in deciding these cases. What makes this case significant is not just the victory for our client but also what this case means for future election-related disputes.”
The ruling came after ballots had already been printed and early voting had begun. As a result, the court did not order Sanchez’s name removed from ballots. Instead, it directed the Lake County Clerk not to count or tabulate votes cast for Sanchez and to post notices at polling places stating that he had been found unqualified and that votes for him would not be counted.
The decision affirms the Electoral Board’s ruling on Villalobos’s objection. It does not itself declare another candidate elected.
Vasselli Law Wins Lake County Election Challenge; Court Orders Sanchez Votes Not Counted
