Council candidate kicked off West Chicago ballot

West Chicago aldermanic candidate Donna M. May's name won't be on the spring ballot, but she's considering running as a write-in instead.

The West Chicago electoral board voted Monday to remove May from the ballot because she wrote April 5, 2010, instead of 2011 on two of her three nominating petitions.

“It's a common mistake a lot of us make, but the state statute is pretty clear on it, so we had no choice,” said West Chicago City Clerk Nancy Smith, a member of the electoral board.

Even though May's minor error likely confused no one, state law requires the petitions to be uniform, Smith said.

May, a 15-year resident of West Chicago, is also running for the library board. There have been no challenges to her petitions for that post.

She was seeking to unseat incumbent Alderman James Beifuss in the city council's Ward 1 — and says several people are urging her to stay in the race.

“Ward 1 is small. Even if I were a write-in, I would have a good chance of winning,” May said. “People know me by face. They don't know James Beifuss by face.”

May said she'll wait until she receives a copy of the electoral board ruling and consult with an attorney before making her decision.

She said she wasn't surprised to be kicked off the ballot. Beifuss is part of the “good old boys club” that runs West Chicago, she said, so “why would they choose to go in my favor?”

In addition to Smith, the other electoral board members are Mayor Mike Kwasman and Alderman Ruben Pineda.

But Smith said board members' hands were tied.

“I always admire people who step up and want to serve,” Smith said. “As the local election official, I hate to see somebody thrown off for what looks like a silly little mistake.”

Candidates for public office are encouraged to have a lawyer look over their paperwork, giving special scrutiny to the petitions that voters sign. “Electoral boards and the courts do not tend to look kindly on what looks like superficial errors on petitions,” said Robert Saar, executive director of the DuPage Election Commission.