East Board Sends Fultz Controversy to Court

The question of whether community activist Mary Fultz is eligible to serve on the East Aurora School Board is headed to court.

Fultz, 45, won a seat on the board in the April 5 election, pulling in 980 votes. But questions have arisen since then about whether she meets the qualifications—specifically, whether Fultz was a registered voter on the day of the election, a state requirement to be seated on the school board.

After an investigation by school district lawyers, board members voted Monday night to request a ruling by a judge. According to Bernard Weiler, attorney for the district, a court will evaluate the facts of the case and determine whether Fultz’ seat should be vacated.

“We had information we had to act on,” Weiler said. “It is not up to the board to take a position on this one way or another."

Records provided by both the Aurora Election Commission and the Kane County Clerk’s Office indicate that Fultz was not registered to vote in the city or the county on April 5. She had been a Kane County voter through April of 2008, living in North Aurora, but her registration was suspended during one of the county’s bi-annual purges of the system, conducted to remove inactive voters.

Fultz did vote in the November 2008 election in North Aurora, after her registration had been suspended. Linda Mitchell, director of elections for Kane County, said her suspension must have been missed at the polls. Fultz did not re-register with Aurora when she moved back to the city in early 2010.

Board members Ray Hull and Juanita Wells abstained from Monday’s vote.  Wells said she abstained because she did not have enough information, nor enough time to consider the information she had.

Wells said that if Fultz voted in the November 2008 election in North Aurora, then she should still be registered in Kane County. She added that it is unclear to her whether candidates must be registered in the district, or can still be eligible if they are registered elsewhere.

“Whatever comes out of this situation with the board seat, I hope candidates’ qualifications are checked before their names are put on the ballot,” Wells said.

Fultz spoke during the public participation section of Monday’s meeting, but offered no comment beyond that. She asked whether the other candidates’ qualifications had been checked.

“I still plan on being on the board,” Fultz said, reiterating her decision not to resign the seat.

Should a judge decide that Fultz is ineligible, a vacancy will be declared, and the board will appoint a new member. Johnson said the board will accept applications from the community.

If she meets all the requirements, Fultz could re-apply for the seat on the board. Aurora Election Commission records show she is now registered to vote in Aurora.

Fultz was one of four who won seats on the school board on April 5. The other three—incumbents Hull and Mary Anne Turza, and challenger Robert Hill—will be seated on May 2. Weiler said it would not take long for a judge to rule on Fultz’ eligibility, so the fourth seat would be filled fairly quickly.

“We’re looking for an orderly transition of leadership on the board,” he said.