Two Naperville council candidates to stay on ballot

Two candidates survived an attempt to remove them from the ballot in the April 4 election in Naperville. But the objection hearing for mayoral candidate Tiffany Stephens has been delayed to Friday.

An objection to city council candidate Nag Jaiswal's election paperwork was withdrawn last week, allowing him to stay on the ballot.

Meanwhile, the Naperville election board - Mayor Steve Chirico, City Clerk Pam Gallahue and Councilman Paul Hinterlong - voted 2-1 on Monday to reject an objection filed against council candidate Derek McDaniel.

Gallahue cast the dissenting vote, saying McDaniel should be removed from the ballot for violating a rule by not numbering his petition papers. A second claim that McDaniel failed to bind the paperwork properly was dropped by Ross Secler, the attorney representing the objector.

Secler said he expected his client to appeal the decision in DuPage County court.

If McDaniel remains on the ballot, 12 city council candidates will vie for four open seats.

"It's unfortunate that we had to be in this situation," McDaniel said. "I'm a first-time candidate, and I made a clerical error. But it ended in a positive way, and I'm excited to still be on the ballot."

Chirico and Hinterlong backed McDaniel, saying a clerical error with no fraud allegations should not prevent a candidate from running. Gallahue, however, sided with the objector's position.

"The election code states that pages shall be numbered consecutively," she said. "Finding that you substantially complied with the code when an entire requirement was omitted will call the integrity of the electoral process into question."

The objection to Stephens' candidacy claims she hasn't lived in Naperville for the minimum one year. Stephens, the founder of a nonprofit group, wants to join Councilman Benny White and liquor commission member Scott Wehrli in a bid to replace Chirico, who is not running for a third term.

The election board on Monday agreed to delay Stephens' hearing until Friday. Secler is waiting on subpoenaed voter registration information from the DuPage County clerk. Stephens' attorney, Keri-Lyn Krafthefer, is seeking registration material for Stephens' children from Indian Prairie Unit District 204.