A07, Nikita Johnson tries to get her aunt #1 ballot position [D209]

Today is the first day for candidates for most local offices to file nominating petitions for the April 17, 2007 elections. Candidates who are in line to file at 8:00 AM enter a lottery for the top ballot position. Professor Jon A. Krosnick of Stanford has determined that the top ballot position is good for a 2% advantage in presidential elections. See NPR Weekend Edition (audio). In a school board election 2% of the vote can confer an bigger advantage because there are more candidates.

According to Charles Flowers, a District 209 board member who is supporting the slate of Ralph Hill Harris, Theresa Kelly and Kevin McDermott, District 209 personnel attempted to engage in trickery to get a candidate the top ballot position. The candidate who would have benefited from this skulduggery is the aunt of Nikita Johnson, the business manager for Proviso Township High Schools (District 209).

When Kelly and the other candidates arrived at about 7:15 AM they were directed to wait on the first floor by Brandon Gale, the director of security, and a political ally of school board president Emanuel "Chris" Welch. The candidates said that the written instructions said the candidates were supposed to go to the fifth floor. Gale informed the candidates that the plan had changed and they were not allowed upstairs. The group included two current school board members Flowers and Kelly.

After 8:00 AM the candidates were told they should now go the fifth floor to submit to Sharon Willis, an administrative assistant to Superintendent Stan Fields. Johnson's aunt had already submitted her petitions after Nikita Johnson had escorted her in the building.

Flowers noted that Johnson's aunt wasn't required to sign the visitor log as other guests are required to do. Flowers requested a copy of the log. When the person working security consulted with Gale she told Flowers that Gale had said she was not allowed to copy the log. So Flowers took it and copied it himself.

Currently there is a 4-3 split on the school board. Dan Adams, Reatha "Sue" Henry, Shirely Madlock and Welch form the majority. Flowers, Kelly and Gary Marine form the opposition. The three seats up for election are Kelly, Madlock and Marine. Anti-Welch candidates need to win all three seats to switch control of the school board away from Welch.

When Flowers questioned Gale about who instructed him to run the misdirection play he initially said "they" told him. Then he blamed a couple secretaries. Finally, he told Flowers that Nikita Johnson was the one who told him to hold the candidates downstairs.

[UPDATE: Robin Foreman is the name of Nikita Johnson's aunt. She was delivering nominating petitions for four candidates. This is somewhat unusual because there are only three vacancies. The three candidates are Robert "Bob" Cox (Forest Park), Terrase Craig, Foreman and Carla D. Johnson. According to Theresa Kelly [UPDATE3: Carla D.] Johnson is the secretary for Sen. Kimberly Lightford and has a son with one of Recorder of Deeds Eugene Moore's sons.

[I assume that the Welch-backed slate fielded four candidates for a couple reasons. The more candidates the bigger advantage provided by simple name recognition. And team Welch loves to use yard signs and direct mail.

[Also, a year ago Rep. Karen Yarbrough ran against both Welch (who challenged her for state rep) and Eugene Moore (the former Proviso Township Democratic Committeeman). Yarbrough won by the biggest margin in Forest Park. So the Welch slate would love for a Forest Park candidate to cut into the votes that would otherwise go to Hill Harris, Kelly and McDermott.]

[UPDATE2: Apologies to Ralph Harris for getting his name wrong.]