Hearing Monday Over Objections To Three Naperville Candidates’ Petitions

File shot of Naperville Municipal Center where hearing over candidates' petitions will be held
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The Municipal Officers Electoral Board will hold a hearing on Monday, December 12, to listen to objections to the nomination petitions of three Naperville candidates who have filed to run in the 2023 Consolidated General Election.

Three Candidates’ Petitions Disputed

The City of Naperville said the objections pertain to the nomination petitions of mayoral candidate Tiffany Stephens, and city council candidates Derek McDaniel and Nag Jaiswal. The city said three Naperville residents filed the objections on December 2 and 5.

The challenges to Stephens’ and McDaniel’s petitions were filed by Arian Ahmadpour, finance chair of the Will County Young Democrats.

Ahmadpour said in the objection that Stephens had not met the Illinois municipal code’s residency requirement, claiming she had not resided in Naperville for at least one year. He said in his filing documents that she had been living in Aurora prior to July.

His objection to McDaniel’s petition stated that the sheets were not numbered correctly or properly “secured or fastened as required by Illinois Election Code.”

The objection to Jaiswal’s petition was made by Naperville resident Elizabeth Zega.

Zega said Jaiswal’s petitions weren’t “uniform or consistent.” According to the objection, headings on Jaiswal’s petition pages were inconsistent, with some listing “NAPERVILLE CITY COUNCIL” as the office he’s seeking, three listing it as “NAPERVILLE CITY,” and another stating it as “CITY COUNCIL.”

Documents submitted by Zega said there was also an error in the filing sheets, in that it said the consolidated primary date is April 4, 2022, with another saying the consolidated primary date April 4, 2023, and then one with no election date listed. Besides the error in the year, there is no primary set for next year. Rather, the documents should have stated that the consolidated election is April 4, 2023.

Other objections questioned the validity of at least 25 signature lines due to missing or incorrect city or county fields, and inconsistent ink colors in heading fields, which Zega said suggested the column tops were not filled in before signatures were requested.

Who’s On The Municipal Officers Electoral Board?

The Municipal Officers Electoral Board is comprised of Naperville Mayor Steve Chirico, Naperville City Clerk Pam Gallahue, and Naperville City Councilman Paul Hinterlong. The three will hear evidence on the filings and assess their merits.

Details of the Hearing

The December 12 hearing will start at 9 a.m. It will be held at the Naperville Municipal Center in city council chambers. The public is welcome to attend the proceedings. The hearing will be streamed live on the city’s website, as well as broadcast live on government access TV station WCNC.

Naperville News 17’s Kim Pirc reports.

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