Write-in candidates for Campton Hills trustee will be on general election ballot

The ballot for Campton Hills village trustee just became more crowded.

In Tuesday's primary election, write-in candidates Timothy Morgan and Kim Weiss surpassed the required number of votes they needed to qualify for the general election ballot, meaning their names will appear with incumbents James McKelvie and Michael Millette, and newcomer Ed Muncie.

The five candidates will vie for three open seats in the general election on April 6.

Out of 247 votes cast and with all 12 precincts reporting in a primary that saw a turnout of only 3 percent, Weiss received 172 votes and Morgan received 168. Muncie received 115 votes, while Millette received 90 votes and McKelvie received 62 votes.

McKelvie, Millette and Muncie needed only one vote apiece to advance to the general election because their names were already on the ballot. Morgan and Weiss each needed 61 votes as write-in candidates, a number determined by a percentage of the turnout in a previous election.

"It feels great for the community to be able to get some new blood and some transparency," Morgan said. "The number of votes (Morgan received) is great, but when less than 300 show up out of 8,000 registered voters, that's terrible. I think that comes from the existing Campton Hills representatives who failed to publicize it."

Morgan and Weiss missed the November filing deadline for candidates in Campton Hills, which was a month earlier than the deadline for most other municipalities. They blamed the village for missing the deadline, citing a lack of transparency regarding public notification of the deadline.

Village officials disagreed, saying public notification was visibly posted on the front entrance of the village hall for 10 days before the deadline.

According to Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham, when Morgan and Weiss filed as write-in candidates after the deadline passed for inclusion on the ballot, a primary was triggered because of state election changes enacted in the 1990s that affect municipalities incorporated later, including Campton Hills.

Now that the primary issue is settled, all the candidates can focus on earning enough votes to finish in the top three in April.

"I'm very honored to hopefully represent the community in Campton Hills," Weiss said. "Not to necessarily make changes, but just to involve everybody."