Hardin removed from MPS ballot

As first reported by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, Charlene Hardin, a 12 year veteran of the Milwaukee School Board, has been removed from the February 17th primary ballot due to an insufficient number of signatures on her nominating paperwork (emphasis mine):

Hardin needed 400 valid signatures to reach the ballot, Election Commission Executive Director Sue Edman told her in a letter released today. The veteran board member had submitted about 550 signatures on 56 pages of petitions, although she had crossed out some signatures, Albrecht said.

But after commission staffers reviewed the petitions, they found only 361 valid signatures, Albrecht said. Of the invalid signatures, 30 have technical errors that can be corrected through affidavits, he said.

In other cases, however, “many of her signers were outside her School Board district, and there’s nothing a candidate can do to correct that,” Albrecht said.

That leaves Hardin 9 signatures short of the minimum, he said.

Barring a spirited write-in campaign or a miracle, this should mark the end of Charlene Hardin’s tenure on the Milwaukee School Board, and what an ignominious end it is.

James Rowen has more, as does illyT.