From the Chicago Sun-Times

Dems' bid to keep Keyes off ballot fails
August 28, 2004
BY STEVE PATTERSON Staff Reporter

Just when you thought the U.S. Senate race in Illinois couldn't get any
stranger, Democrats showed they have a few more tricks up their sleeve.
With Republicans turning their attention to New York for their national
convention, Democrats on the Illinois Board of Elections raised legal
questions Friday that threatened to keep Alan Keyes off the ballot as the
GOP nominee.
But after a four-hour standoff at the Thompson Center, it took just a
three-minute phone call from a top Republican attorney to settle the matter
-- at least for now -- and put Keyes on the fall ballot.
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Keyes' camp immediately blamed supporters of Democrat Barack Obama for
orchestrating the ambush, though Obama's aides insisted they were
"blindsided" by the move and called it "outrageously stupid." Polls show
Obama way ahead of Keyes.
"This was all politics," said Keyes' staffer Dan Proft, adding that the
Democrats on the board decided to "play games with the law" and "it's just
embarrassing."
Keyes' spokesman Bill Pascoe went further, saying the board acted like "the
Barack Obama coronation committee" by trying to remove the Republican
challenger.
But Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs said they "do not in any way condone" the
move to boot Keyes.
The drama unfolded as the board -- made up of four Democrats and four
Republicans -- moved to certify the state ballot for the Nov. 2 election --
which is usually a routine move.
But Chairman John Keith, a Democrat, raised questions about the way the
Republican State Central Committee selected a replacement for Jack Ryan, who
withdrew as the GOP nominee after it was disclosed he took his wife to sex
clubs.
Keith led a Democratic chorus expressing uncertainty the committee had the
authority to find a replacement as it did with Keyes. The Democrats even
signed a state ballot without Keyes' name on it, though Republicans
countered by signing a ballot with Keyes' name.
The showdown seemed destined for courts when Republican National Committee
attorney Charles Spies phoned in from New York.
Spies assured board members that party rules had been followed and Keyes
should be kept on the ballot. He said he would put his opinion in writing
Monday, and Democrats agreed to keep Keyes on the ballot as long as Spies'
written statement doesn't contain "a lot of malarkey," Democratic member
William McGuffage said.
The dispute caught most Republicans by surprise, though one top GOP staffer
admitted that "we've always thought this could get tricky." That's because
the issue has been on Springfield radar since April, when bipartisan groups
began to recognize that state law is vague on succession rules for U.S.
Senate nominees.
Keith cited cases to support his position that state parties aren't
empowered to act when a Senate candidate withdraws, though Republican Bryan
Schneider led the charge that the GOP did it right.
Keith also said he has twice raised concerns about the process to election
officials, to no avail.
But Spies spelled out party rules to support the process that state leaders
followed in picking Keyes, and Obama even enlisted Democratic National
Committee attorneys to back the RNC position.
At meeting's end, Keith was denying politics played a role in delaying
Keyes' spot on the ballot.
"Delay? What delay," he said, after denying he was a Democrat. "Politics had
nothing to do with it. If you want to call me a liar, call me a liar."
Contributing: Dave McKinney, Abdon Pallasch, Lynn Sweet