The legal battle for a candidate to have his name restored to next Tuesday’s consolidated election ballot is over. On Monday, Tyson Manker filed a petition for leave to appeal to the Illinois Supreme Court and an Emergency Motion to request an expedited hearing to have his name restored to the ballot for Village President of the Village of South Jacksonville. On Tuesday, in a letter from the Clerk of the Illinois Supreme Court Carolyn T. Grosboll, Manker was notified that his petition had been denied ending his appeal process.
Manker was seeking to overturn a ruling by the 4th Judicial Circuit of the Illinois Appellate Court that denied to overrule rulings by the Village of South Jacksonville Electoral Board and Circuit Judge Chris Reif to have his name on the ballot.
Unlike other courts in the state, the Illinois Supreme Court can deny even hearing the appeals as they see fit. Manker’s appeal looked similar in argument to those presented in his Appellate Court appeal. Manker’s motion said that the expedited hearing schedule was desired because if his name was not restored to the ballot, he would be “greatly prejudiced” with the outcome of the election.
With the appeals process now over, Manker will remain a write-in candidate for Village President.