Rulings Made On 2 Objections To Nominating Petitions In Naperville

NAPERVILLE, IL — Naperville's Electoral Board ruled Monday on two of three objections that were filed against the nominating petitions of candidates seeking to get on the ballot for the April 4 general election.

The city's election board was made up of Mayor Steve Chirico, City Clerk Pam Gallahue and council member Paul Hinterlong.

Arian Ahmadpour, who is part of the Will County Young Democrats, filed a challenge against the nomination of Derek McDaniel, who is hoping to land a seat on the Naperville City Council. In his challenge, Ahmadpour contended that McDaniel's petition was improperly numbered or bound, as outlined in the Illinois Election Code.

The electoral board voted two to one in favor of McDaniel.

Elizabeth Zega, who lives in Naperville, filed a challenge to the nomination petitions of Nag Jaiswal, who is also vying for a seat on the city council. Neither Zega nor Jaiswal appeared at Monday's hearing, which led the electoral board to dismiss the case.

Tiffany Stephens, who is hoping to run for mayor of Naperville, also found her nomination petitions challenged by Ahmadpour. In this challenge, Ahmadpour contends that Stephens is not eligible to run for mayor of Naperville, alleging she has been living at an Aurora address as of July. Illinois code requires nominees to have resided in the municipality in which they are running for at least a year ahead of the election.

The case against Stephens has been continued until Dec. 16 to allow Ahmadpour and Stephens to subpoena additional documents if they deem it necessary.