The three-member Kane County Electoral Board overruled all the objections against a precinct commiteeperson’s petitions Friday, Nov. 21, effectively allowing Cindy Ignoffo to remain on the March 17, 2026 primary ballot.

On Tuesday, Nov. 18, the board heard more than an hour of argument over objections from Pamela Carr Hagerman against the nominating papers of Ignoffo.

They are both seeking the GOP nomination in Dundee Township Precinct 1.

The Electoral Board is made up of Karin Herwick for the Circuit Clerk’s Office and attorneys John Duggan for the County Clerk’s Office and John Frank for the State’s Attorney’s Office.

Among Hagerman’s objections were that three of Ignoffo’s signers were not Republicans.

Ignoffo showed the panel a booklet of instructions from the Illinois Republican Party for committeepersons’ petitions.

“It states, ‘A voter may sign the petitions of two competing candidates for Republican precinct committeepersons in the voter’s precinct,’” Ignoffo read. “If that same voter then signs petitions for any Democrat, the signature is challenged and can be stricken.’”

This means that both she and Hagerman can have the same voters’ signatures on their petitions, Ignoffo said.

“Democrats and independents can also sign for me, they just can’t cross parties to sign for someone else” in the same election, Ignoffo said.

Duggan said voters can change parties whenever they want to – just not in the same election.

Ignoffo also countered Hagerman’s objection to signatures she alleged did not match those on voters’ signatures on record.

Ignoffo provided a signed statement from one voter and a photo of another holding his driver’s license showing his signature to prove that they were, indeed, those who signed her petition.

“I have case law,” Ignoffo said. “I just think it should be thrown out – her objections – because I think they are frivolous. ... I stand with the petitions I submitted.”

Hagerman also stood by her objections to Ignoffo’s nominating petitions.

“I don’t believe it’s frivolous,” Hagerman said.

Hagerman also rebutted Ignoffo’s response to her objection.

“This is pure slander and lies,” Hagerman said.

One of the issues was Ignoffo’s claim that Hagerman offered her money to drop out of the precinct committeeperson’s race – something Hagerman said “didn’t happen.”

“It’s an attempt at character assassination,” Hagerman said.

She said she did call Ignoffo to ask why she was running.

“I said I wanted to let her know I would be willing to put money into my own campaign because it’s important to me,” Hagerman said. “And I laughed and I said, ‘$1,000 or $10,000, ha ha,’ laughing like that would be something that would be ridiculous, to put $10,000 in a PC [precinct committeeperson] campaign. She has twisted that and she has turned it [into] that I offered her thousands of dollars not to run.”

The board agreed to give Hagerman two days to get affidavits from witnesses to the phone conversation in question.

Precincts are the smallest units by which electoral districts are broken down. In Kane County, each precinct has roughly 1,200 voters and can have an elected committeeperson from each party who works to get the party vote out and participates in party business.

Party committeepersons are elected in primaries, not general elections.

In an Aurora Township precinct, Danny P. Souri withdrew his candidacy for an Aurora Township Republican precinct committeeperson seat after a challenge that he didn’t have enough signatures to be on the ballot.

Lillian Perry of Aurora, a Democrat, filed the objection to Souri, stating that the minimum number of signatures required by state law is 10. And since Souri filed only eight signatures, he should not be on the ballot. In a text, Souri said he would file as a write-in candidate.