Andrea Raila

Ousted Democratic candidate for Cook County assessor Andrea Raila is pursuing legal action to get on the March 20 ballot.

Raila, who was tossed from the ballot Feb. 15, plans to file in Cook County Circuit Court to get back on the ballot. Raila said the irregularities in her filed petitions — pages not notarized, the signature of the person who circulated a petition missing, etc. — are the type of minor infractions that have been overlooked for male candidates over the years.

“The corruption in the Cook County Board of Elections, like the Cook County Assessor’s Office, starts at the bottom and bubbles up to the top,” Raila said after being bounced from the ballot. “We talk about changes needed in the property tax system. We need changes in the electoral system. The Board of Elections works to keep women off the ballot and minorities off the ballot.”

The Electoral Board ruled Feb. 15 that Raila will not be on the ballot. The Electoral Board, comprised of representatives from the Clerk of the Circuit Court and the State’s Attorney’s offices, determined that Raila had committed a pattern of fraud in her nominating petitions.

The ruling affirmed the recommendation of an appointed hearing officer who found that Raila and her campaign had “engaged in a concerted, intentional pattern of fraud, both as to circulation, as well as notarial acts.”

Raila said that just 2 percent of the names and signatures on her petitions had problems.

“The problems were few and far between,” Raila said. “Yet, they knocked out all of the petition pages (where there was a name or signature issue).”

Democratic candidates for assessor had been challengers Fritz Kaegi and Raila, and incumbent Joe Berrios.

Raila said the same kind of irregularities have been accepted by the Electoral Board in the past. She added the same types of irregularities were evident on Kaegi’s petitions as well.

“I did not have the money or the inclination to challenge Kaegi’s petitions,” Raila said. “I wanted it to be a good and free process.”

She said Cook County has the most unique objection system in the country and noted that so many challengers have been kicked off the ballot by the election panel that four primary races are going uncontested.

Raila was expected to file suit in Cook County Circuit Court on Friday.

“We will persevere,” Raila predicted.

Raila said that she has an excellent chance to be back on the ballot, noting that she knows of five appellate court and circuit court rulings for candidates with similar minor incongruities on petitions.

“These individuals were protected and allowed to go on the ballot,” Raila said. “It is the American dream to run for office. You should not use technical errors to keep someone off the ballot.”

She labeled the Electoral Board “a good ol’ boys network doing the same type of unethical actions as the Assessor’s Office.”

“We need to clean them both up,” Raila said.

The candidate said that there were 25 women at Thursday’s Electoral Board meeting. When the board ruled to knock Raila off the ballot, they shouted “Shame on you. Shame on you. It is a travesty,” the candidate said.

As a result of the Electoral Board’s ruling, as of right now, Kaegi will challenge Berrios in a head-to-head race.

“The Cook County Electoral Board conducted a fair and thorough examination of a mountain of evidence, which clearly indicated that Andrea Raila and members of her inner circle purposely and intentionally engaged in a pattern of fraud to circumvent the rules,” said Kaegi campaign manager Rebecca Reynolds. “We look forward to focusing squarely on defeating Joe Berrios, because the voters deserve an assessor who operates fairly, transparently and professionally — and that’s what at stake in this election.”

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