West Chicago mayoral candidate knocked off ballot

Ruben Pineda's lone challenger in his bid for a second term as mayor has been knocked off the West Chicago ballot, but she pledges to appeal the decision.

The city's electoral board on Thursday upheld an objection filed by resident John Smith questioning the validity of Marilyn Kroll's nominating petitions.

Smith's objection claimed Kroll didn't have the required 123 valid signatures on her nominating forms. The city's electoral board met last week to review the objection and then referred it to the DuPage County Board of Elections.

During last week's meeting, Kroll said it was "ludicrous and ridiculous" that an objection was filed against her and said it wasn't her fault if some people who signed her papers didn't follow the instructions.

Burt Odelson, a lawyer representing the city, said the county's board of elections determined that just 71 of the 140 signatures Kroll submitted were valid. That board agreed with the majority of Smith's objections, which argued some signatures were from the same person and others were from people who weren't registered voters or West Chicago residents.

Kroll did not attend Thursday's meeting.

But in a phone conversation, she said she "absolutely" will appeal the board's ruling.

"They were trying to get me off the ballot on a technicality," Kroll said. "Politics is dirty. Politics is very dirty."

"I'll fight back all the way to the Supreme Court."

The city's electoral board - which consists of city Clerk Nancy Smith and the two longest-serving council members, Lori Chassee and Rebecca Stout - unanimously agreed to uphold the county's opinion and take Kroll's name off the April 4 ballot.

"The numbers speak for themselves," Chassee said, "they're so sufficiently inadequate."

• Daily Herald staff writer Bob Smith contributed to this report.