Ex-Elmhurst Hopeful Suspicious Of Petition Signatures: Investigation

ELMHURST, IL – Former Elmhurst mayoral candidate Mark Mulliner said he suspected something was wrong with signatures on his election petition late last year, according to an investigator's report.

Those were the same signatures that longtime Addison Republican Lawrence Moretti submitted for Mulliner's campaign. Moretti faces 14 felony forgery counts in connection with the petition.

In February, a DuPage County State's Attorney's investigator met with Mulliner, a former longtime alderman, at his south Elmhurst house. Mulliner, who said he did not know Moretti, told the investigator that the Addison man turned in the petition pages to his wife when he was away.

Mulliner said he almost did not submit the signatures that Moretti turned in because he was suspicious when he saw them, according to the report.

Mulliner and Moretti have not returned messages for comment.

Last week, Patch obtained the state's attorney's report through a public records request.

The investigator visited houses where residents supposedly signed Mulliner's petition. They said the signatures were not theirs and that no one asked them to sign.

The investigator's report included several references to a Patch story from last December. In that story, Patch reported that it had contacted seven residents whose signatures were purportedly on the petition. All seven said they did not sign, nor did anyone else in their houses.

Moretti's four pages were much different from the other 68. All the signatures on the four pages were illegible, while that was only the case with some on the other pages.

The signatures on Moretti's pages were typically angled scribbles.

On April 1, the investigator went to Moretti's house and spoke with him in his driveway. Moretti declined to answer questions, referring questions to his lawyer.

In August, a grand jury indicted Moretti on 14 counts of forgery.

In the April election, Mayor Scott Levin was re-elected to a second term, defeating Mulliner in a landslide.

Moretti is a Republican committeeman from Addison Township.