(Above) Danville Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr; Challenger and Vermilion Housing Authority Executive Director Jackie Vinson, Challenger Jacob Lane
Now that the Danville Election Commission has declared that mayoral candidate Jacob Lane should not be on the ballot for next April 4th municipal election, where do we go from here? Mayor Rickey Williams, Jr challenged 22 of Lane’s petition signatures, and the Commission agreed that the ones in question were either from someone out of the city limits, or not registered to vote.
AUDIO: I am glad that the Election Commission verified my research and found that he was in fact short signatures due to not having enough registered voters sign his petition. I appreciate their diligence. And I just, again, would restate that if you’re going to lead you have to be willing to follow the rules and understand the rules. And unfortunately he did not in this case.
And although Danville Election Commission Executive Director Sandy Delhaye says she FedExed a letter to Lane about the mayor’s objections to his signatures, and received confirmation of delivery, Jacob Lane says the communication with the Commission has not been good. And he plans to fight to stay on the ballot.
AUDIO: We all know that Rickey Williams is scared to have someone challenge him in the upcoming election because he has no positive record to run on. And since I still haven’t heard anything from the Election Commission; it’s sort of sad that I’m getting my news from you, both last week and this week, about both of these matters; I’ll be seeking more information from them. And to the full extent of the law, we will be fighting this decision.
Meanwhile, there’s the other challenger to be Danville’s next mayor, Vermilion Housing Authority Executive Director Jackie Vinson. Vinson says she’s not going to concern herself with all this. Instead, she’ll concentrate on her own election efforts, and her conversations with Danville voters.
AUDIO: I am going to remain focused on my campaign; on why I want to be Danville’s next elected official. And I choose to keep my comments on things related to me.
Next up in all this, a hearing before the Danville Election Commission scheduled for 1 PM Wednesday, December 21st; where Lane, as well as 5th Ward challenger Jakob Dazey, can state their cases for being on the ballot.
