Objections filed against petitions of two Naperville City Council candidates

City Council candidates Farid Shabazz and Nag Jaiswal
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Objections have been filed against two Naperville City Council candidates’ nomination petitions for the upcoming Consolidated General Election on April 1, 2025. 

Municipal Officers Electoral Board to hear evidence Wednesday

The Municipal Officers Electoral Board will convene on Wednesday, Nov. 13 at 1:30 p.m. to hear the evidence in the objections filed by three Naperville residents on Nov. 4 against the petitions of candidates Nag Jaiswal and Farid Shabazz. 

Dianne A. McGuire, Nancy Hans Turner, and Mark Vincent Urda are listed on city documents as the residents who filed the objections in both cases.

Objections noted in Jaiswal’s nomination petition

In the case of Jaiswal’s petition, the complainants claimed the following issues:

  • The heading on fifty of his petition pages notes it is for a “Consolidated Primary Election to be held April 1, 2025.” However, the complainants said, there is no primary election being held that day. Thus, they argue, all fifty of his petition pages are void.
  • Filing dates for his petitions did not meet the requirements as per the city’s election code, if he was going by the April 1 date listed above, as they would have needed to be in no more than 127 or less than 120 days before a primary date.
  • Some of the 317 required signatures are not valid, for the following reasons:
    • Signed by an unqualified voter
    • Lacking a signature
    • Lacking either printed or written address
    • Duplicate signatures
    • “Improper attestation by circulator”

In response to the objections, Jaiswal told NCTV17 that local Democrats, “do not want any Hindu (residents) on the council.”

“I’m not against the individuals, it is the (Democratic) Party… they don’t want two minority candidates (to) come and spoil their chances to win. They don’t want Black, minority, they just want whatever they want.”

Jaiswal said he will attend the objection hearing on Wednesday.

Objections noted in Shabazz’s nomination petition

In the case of Shabazz’s petition, the complainants claimed the following issues:

  • Candidate utilized multiple names in overlapping timeframes, which complainants allege were inconsistent in filings, and not properly disclosed on filings as per Illinois election law.
  • Candidate did not disclose his name change on all the petition papers as required.
  • Candidate requested to be listed on the ballot under a different name from that which was on his petition sheets.
  • Candidate noted name change date as May 2003 on Statement of Candidacy, but as May 2023 on subsequent petition sheets.

The complainants argue that the candidate’s name, as per Illinois requirements, “should appear in exactly the same form on the petition sheets, Statement of Candidacy, and Loyalty Oath.” 

The petition papers show “Farid Malik Shabazz” as the name printed on the Statement of Candidacy page, with “Farid Shabazz” used as the name atop the signed petition sheets. On a number of those pages, but not all, it is noted that the candidate was formerly known as David Hughes until his name was changed in May 2023.

The complainants further alleged that court records showed a name change request by the candidate on a date that was different from either that was noted on the candidate’s filing sheets.

As of Friday at 5:30 p.m., Shabazz had not returned requests for comment but did post the following statement on his candidate page on Facebook.

“I was warned by that local Democratic Party people would try to make me withdraw and cause me issues.  It’s a frivolous complaint. Turning local races partisan and picking on minority candidates.” 

 Who sits on the Municipal Officers Electoral Board?

The members of the electoral board are Naperville Mayor Scott Wehrli, Naperville City Clerk Dawn Portner, and Naperville City Councilman Patrick Kelly. 

The three will decide on the merits of the complaints after hearing the evidence. The proceedings will be streamed live on the city’s website, as well as on government-access TV station WCNC. The public is also welcome to attend the hearing.

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