A three-member village electoral board is expected to decide Monday, Aug. 17 whether to sustain a formal objection that could block an advisory referendum on Illinois' anti-Israel-boycott investment law from reaching Oak Park's November ballot.

The challenge targets more than 3,500 signatures collected by Oak Parkers for Free Speech over 12 weeks this summer. The group needed roughly 2,000 valid signatures to qualify the referendum and submitted its notarized petitions by the village's Aug. 3 deadline. One objection was filed by the Aug. 10 cutoff.

Attorney Michael Kasper of the Chicago firm Kasper, Holmes & Dring is representing the objectors, whom the Wednesday Journal identified as private citizens and registered Oak Park voters with no formal affiliation to the Jewish Community and Friends for Democracy. Kasper has not disclosed the legal basis of the challenge.

Who decides

Village President Vicki Scaman chairs the electoral board. Village Clerk Christina Waters serves as secretary, and Trustee Jim Taglia, the board's longest-tenured member, rounds out the panel. As of Aug. 11, Scaman was out of state on a personal matter and working to determine whether she could participate via Zoom. If the village attorney ruled remote participation impermissible, Trustee Chibuike Enyia would likely serve as pro-tempore chair, Scaman said.

The board's scope is narrow. Under the Illinois Election Code, it reviews only the procedural viability of the petitions on the grounds raised in the objection. It does not rule on the substance or legality of the referendum question itself.

"The electoral board is focused on the process and whether the process is followed and correct and appropriate," Taglia told the Wednesday Journal on Aug. 11. "That's what the focus is, not the subject of the referenda."

What's at stake

The proposed referendum is advisory only. It would ask Oak Park voters whether Illinois should repeal its 2015 law requiring state pension funds to divest from companies that boycott Israel. Illinois was the first state to enact such a law, passing it unanimously under Gov. Bruce Rauner.

If the board overrules the objection, Waters must certify the question to the Cook County Clerk by Aug. 27 for it to appear on the Nov. 3 ballot. If the board sustains the objection, the question is removed. Under state law, the board's decision is "final subject to judicial review," meaning petitioners could still challenge a negative ruling in court.

Caren Van Slyke, a leader of Oak Parkers for Free Speech, told the Wednesday Journal that canvassers encountered mostly positive responses during the 12-week signature drive, with co-organizer Jesse Bauer estimating 90 to 95 percent of residents contacted responded favorably. The Jewish Community and Friends for Democracy said in a prepared statement that the measure is divisive and distracts the community from local issues like health care and affordable housing.

As we reported Aug. 11, the challenge set up a high-stakes procedural showdown with direct ballot implications for Oak Park voters. The Oak Park Wire will update this story when the electoral board announces its decision.