Judge rules Aurora alderman candidate can’t be on ballot
An Aurora resident lost his fight Monday to get back on the April 1 ballot for 4th Ward alderman.
Kane County Judge Kevin Busch upheld an Aurora Municipal Officers Electoral Board ruling, which determined in November that Jose Torres lacked sufficient signatures on his candidate petition.
Torres had argued that the electoral board used the wrong election to determine how many signatures he needed.
The issue was that Aurora changed its ward boundaries in 2022.
Torres argued that the board should have used the 2023 citywide alderman-at-large election to determine how many signatures he needed because there was no 4th Ward election that year.
He says the board incorrectly determined the number necessary using the number of ballots cast in the 2021 election. He argues that it should have used the 2023 election as a benchmark.
Torres says state election law requires that the election after a city redistricts its wards is the one used to determine how many signatures are needed. Aurora redistricted its wards in August 2022.
The minimum is determined by taking the number of ballots cast citywide, multiplying that by 5%, then dividing by 10 wards.
In 2023, 10,589 people cast ballots. In 2021, more than 12,000 people voted.
Torres argues that he only needed 54 signatures; the board ruled he needed 65.
Torres initially submitted 97 signatures, but the Kane County clerk ruled that 40 were invalid, leaving him with 57 signatures.
Jeffrey Hansford and Jonathan Nuñez are left running for the seat.
The electoral board also removed Saul Fultz III as a candidate for Ward 7, and Arrianna Dallmann was removed from the ballot for alderman-at-large. Neither appealed the decisions in court.
The board for Torres’ case consisted of Mayor Richard Irvin, Alderman Michael Saville and City Clerk Jennifer Stallings.
Last week, Busch reinstated mayoral candidate Karina Garcia to the Feb. 25 primary ballot. Voting for the primary begins Thursday.