The practice of challenging the nominating petitions of candidates for office in the city of Chicago has become fairly commonplace over the years, and as the Board of Elections sets a schedule to hear those challenges, at least four members of the City Council will have to ward off those efforts.
Under current election law, candidates for the City Council are required to obtain at least 473 notarized signatures from registered voters prior to the Nov. 28 deadline.
Challenges were then filed against numerous candidates, with hearings scheduled by the Chicago Board of Elections through the beginning of January.
After that process plays out, the final ballot will be set, and Chicago voters will head to the polls on Feb. 28.
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In all, four incumbent members of the Chicago City Council had their nominating petitions challenged, including 7th Ward Ald. Gregory Mitchell. He will face a hearing on Dec. 20.
In fact, all three candidates in the 7th ward race will face challenges. Tony Blair’s hearing will take place Dec. 19, and Jocilyn Floyd’s will take place on Dec. 20.
Ald. Michelle Harris, who represents the city’s 8th ward, also had her petitions challenged. Her hearing will take place on Dec. 20.
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Two of the three other candidates in the field will also face challenges. Geno Young’s will be heard on Dec. 19, and Sean Flynn’s will be heard on Jan. 3.
The lone contender who did not face a petition challenge is Linda Hudson.
In the city’s 26th ward, five of the six candidates who filed petitions to appear on the ballot had those signatures challenged, including Ald. Roberto Maldonado. That challenge will be among the first to be heard by the Board of Elections on Dec. 16.
Julian Perez, Jessie Fuentes, Kirk Ortiz and Anthony Rivera will also face challenges to their petitions.
In the 28th ward, Ald. Jason Ervin will face a petition challenge hearing on Dec. 21. Opponents Timothy Gladney (Dec. 20) and Shawn Walker (Dec. 16) will also face hearings, and Beverly Miles’ petitions were also challenged, according to BOE officials.
All petition challenge hearings are livestreamed via the Board of Elections’ website. The BOE employs a handwriting expert to testify in these challenges, and ultimately if a candidate falls below the signature threshold, they are removed from the ballot.
