West Chicago mayor candidate wants lottery to determine ballot placement

A candidate for West Chicago mayor has asked a judge to prevent the city from certifying the candidate list for the April 1 ballot, saying he should have been allowed to participate in a lottery to determine the top spot on the ballot.

Joseph Sheehan filed the action Friday morning in DuPage County circuit court, roughly five hours before the deadline for the city to file the certified ballot with the DuPage County Clerk’s Office.

Sheehan is running against incumbent Mayor Ruben Pineda and Daniel Bovey.

Sheehan’s request for a temporary restraining order says that he filed his nominating petitions with the city clerk’s office at 8 a.m. on Nov. 12 — the first day of filing. State law says that when more than one candidate is in line when the office opens, they are considered to have filed.

Sheehan’s motion says, however, that city officials told him he was not in line at 8 a.m.

Sheehan says his petition was accepted 14 seconds before 8:01 a.m. and that state election law does not say anything about seconds when determining the need for a simultaneous filing lottery.

The county clerk has not built the April 1 consolidated election ballot yet. But according to an unofficial list on the clerk’s web page, Pineda will be first on the ballot, followed by Sheehan, then Bovey.

The case has been assigned a May 22 court date.