Holland Township Electoral Board Hearing

Shelby Co. (ECWd) –

Holland Township Electoral Board convened February 8th, 2017, for the purpose of hearing a petition objection filed by the Township Supervisor, Matt Forcum, against Larry Syfert, who is running for Highway Commissioner. We reached out to Mr. Forcum and Mr. Syfert and obtained the documents filed by both men.

Forcum recused himself as a member of the hearing board since he is the one who filed the objection.  He also filed a motion to disqualify the rest of the board.

The objection was countered with a motion to dismiss by Mr. Syfert.  That motion is based on the objection failing to ask for relief.

No hearing was conducted, however, due to two members recusing themselves, leaving one person on the board.  With two members recused, the Chief Judge of the Circuit must appoint two members so that a hearing can be held, much like we saw in the Shelbyville Township Electoral Board process.

We saw similar motions during the Shelbyville Township Electoral Board hearing and we suspect once new board members are appointed and a hearing held, they will conclude the same as was found in Shelbyville Township Electoral Board hearings. 

The objection can not legally stand when mandatory items are missing from the objection and an affirmative defense presented.  That being the case, Mr. Syfer should prevail with his motion to dismiss the objection and have his name placed on the ballot, in our opinion.

We will keep an eye on this case and update accordingly.  Below is the video of the first meeting.

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