Don Rage gets low marks from tenants

I received the following email alerting Dundee Township voters to information about Don Rage, who is running for Dundee Township Supervisor, and the numerous feedback and comments from renters and residents of properties managed by Rage Property Management:

Don Rage, owner of “Rage Property Management” is running for Dundee Township Supervisor against incumbent Sue Harney.  Rage has been slinging mud left and right.

Want some fun?  Google “Rage Property Management” and see all the hits that come up…. Hits from ANGRY renters & residents of the properties that Rage is charged with managing.  (See attached below.)  Rage clearly cannot manage his present business yet he wants to run Dundee Township???!!! Forget it!

What Rage really wants to do is to treat Dundee Township and your tax dollars as his personal piggy bank – for his properties and for all his contractor and developer buddies.

Do you value Open Space in Dundee Township?     Then, DON”T LET THIS HAPPEN!

Support SUE HARNEY for re-election as Dundee Township Supervisor!  SUE HARNEY has faithfully and responsibly served us in Dundee Township for the past 8 years.  She is responsible for most of the Open Space acquired by the Township that we all enjoy. www.citizensforsueharney.com

Please forward this message to all your neighbors and friends and be sure to vote for SUE HARNEY on Tuesday February 24^th.

Be informed when casting your vote

Tomorrow is primary election day in Illinois; also known as Super Tuesday across the country because there are 24 states holding primaries or caucuses on that day. (Incidentally it is also “Fat Tuesday” or Mardi Gras.)

With news that there will be groups like Fox Valley Citizens for Legal Immigration, among others, who will be watching the polls, there may be some information you should know so that you are not intimidated or prevented from casting a ballot.

The first thing to keep in mind that all who come to a polling place on Tuesday must be allowed to cast a vote provided they can give reasonable proof to an official Election Judge that they are eligible and registered to vote.

If an Election Judge cannot locate your name among registered voters, but you can provide identification that could be used as proof of voter eligibility, you can vote via a Provisional Ballot. This is allowable, even in the case where a “poll watcher” has challenged your eligibility.

Election judges are officers of the Circuit Court and have legal authority to conduct the election in the polling place. All judges have equal responsibility and authority.

“Pollwatchers” are not Election Judges.

By majority decision, the judges have the sole power to allow or disallow a challenge to a voter, to cause removal of unauthorized pollwatchers and to limit the number of pollwatchers in the polling place.

So, some information you may want to know about “Pollwatchers” …

Only one pollwatcher each from any “Qualified Citizen Group”, “State Civic Organization” or “Political Party” (or two representing any “Candidate”) may be present at any polling place. They must have registered at least 40 days in advance with the proper election authority.

Within guidelines provided by law, Election Judges may limit the number of pollwatchers if a polling place becomes overcrowded.

Pollwatchers are not allowed to touch any supplies or materials and at no time may pollwatchers be so close to the judges that they interfere with the orderly conduct of the election.

Pollwatchers are really there to observe the Election Judges follow proper procedures when a voter’s registration cannot be validated. They are not to do the work of the Election Judges by seeking to determine voter eligibility themselves.

Some reasons for challenging include the following:

• The voter no longer resides at the address at which he/she is registered.
• The person attempting to vote is not the same person registered.
• The person attempting to vote has already voted.
• The person attempting to vote is not registered to vote.

Election Judges will determine your eligibility to vote at the table.

If you have any problems, you may report them to the Kane County clerk: (630) 232-5990 or if you suspect irregularities, contact the state’s attorney at (630) 208-5328.

If you have witnessed actual or attempted acts of discrimination or intimidation in the
voting process, you may report this to the Civil Rights Division of the United States
Department of Justice at 1-800-253-3931.

Justice Dept, Kane Co. agree to protect voter’s rights

I received the following tonite from Silvia Realzola of Carpentersville Community Alliance. You can read about the events surrounding this agreement and what lead to it in a story published in the Daily Herald.

This is a result of the hard work of many people and organizations. Thank you to everyone! This battle was started several years ago and the outcome is GREAT! This demonstrates that following the process and working together for an end purpose will get POSITIVE results – it may take some time, but in the end working together for positive change can happen. Once again thank you to all those poll watchers, election judges, volunteers that put in endless hours for the benefit of our community.We must continue to work together – positive change can happen!

Silvia Realzola, President
Carpentersville Community Alliance

From: USDOJ-Office of Public Affairs
To: USDOJ-Office of Public Affairs
Sent: Wed Sep 26 18:59:58 2007
Subject: JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT PROTECTING THE RIGHTS OF HISPANIC AND SPANISH-SPEAKING VOTERS IN KANE COUNTY

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 26, 2007
WWW.USDOJ.GOV
(202) 514-2007
TDD (202) 514-1888

JUSTICE DEPARTMENT ANNOUNCES AGREEMENT PROTECTING
THE RIGHTS OF HISPANIC AND SPANISH-SPEAKING VOTERS IN KANE COUNTY

WASHINGTON — The Justice Department announced today the settlement of a lawsuit against Kane County, Ill., alleging violations of the rights of Spanish-speaking voters under the Voting Rights Act. The settlement agreement with Kane County requires the county to provide all voting materials and assistance in Spanish as well as in English and ensures that limited English-proficient voters can receive assistance from the persons of their choice. It also permits the Justice Department to monitor future elections.

“Every citizen has a right to vote, regardless of what language they speak,” said Rena J. Comisac, Acting Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Today’s agreement removes a procedural impediment to voting which hindered significant numbers of language minority citizens from exercising that right. The county should be congratulated for resolving the issue quickly and constructively.”

“The right to vote is a fundamental guarantee for all American citizens,” said Patrick J. Fitzgerald, U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Illinois. “Without the assistance necessary to ensure equal access to the polls, Spanish speakers cannot exercise that right effectively. We are pleased that the county has agreed to resolve this complaint.”

The complaint charged that the county failed to provide Spanish-language assistance at the polls to the majority of its Spanish-speaking voters in recent elections and that the county prevented Spanish-speaking voters from receiving assistance from the persons of their choice, even in cases where bilingual assistance was otherwise unavailable. The settlement agreement resolves all of the charges in the complaint and was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois contemporaneously with the complaint and an accompanying order allowing federal observers to monitor Election Day activities in its polling places. The order still must be approved by a panel of three judges.

The Voting Rights Act requires that certain jurisdictions with a substantial minority-language voter population, which includes Kane County, provide all voting materials and assistance in the minority language as well as in English. The Act also assures voters who need assistance in voting, such as those unable to see or read the ballot, the right to receive that assistance from a person of their choice, other than the voter’s employer or union representative.

Since 2002, the Division has brought more than twice the number of lawsuits to enforce the minority language provisions of the Act than it brought in the preceding 26 years combined; all but one of the lawsuits were to enforce the assistance provision of the Act. During this time period, the Division has filed successful Voting Rights Act lawsuits across the country, with cases in Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Massachusetts, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Texas and Washington, and has filed the first cases in its history on behalf of Filipino, Korean, Haitian, and Vietnamese American voters.

To file complaints about discriminatory voting practices, including acts of harassment or intimidation, voters may call the Voting Section of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931. More information about the Voting Rights Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice Web site at www.usdoj.gov/crt/voting/index.htm.

###

07-770

DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. IF YOU HAVE QUESTIONS, PLEASE USE THE CONTACTS IN THE MESSAGE OR CALL THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS AT 202-514-2007.