DeKALB – DeKalb Resident Linh Nguyen’s name will not appear on the April 1 mayoral ballot after the DeKalb Board of Elections ruled Tuesday that she filed her papers outside the “statutory” window.

The DeKalb Board of Elections ruled in favor Tuesday an objection to Nguyen’s nomination papers. Nguyen was one of four who said they plan to seek the DeKalb mayor’s office in the spring 2025 consolidated election.

In his objection to the petition, DeKalb resident Albert William Vodden argued that Nguyen did not file his nomination papers within the time required by law for an “independent” candidate for city mayor. He also claimed Nguyen’s papers had inconsistencies in the use of the candidate’s legal name, according to the filing.

Ed Mullen, Nguyen’s Chicago attorney previously accused William Vodden’s filing to be a “strategic political move” designed to kill his candidacy. Mullen and Nguyen claimed she filed her nomination papers on Oct. 25 with local election authorities, as required to comply with the election code. The filing window for the city’s consolidated election ran from November 12 to November 18.

Mullen said he was told otherwise.

“The intention was just to get it right,” Mullen said. “I called the DeKalb (county) clerk. I called the State Electoral Council. We were told this is the way to do it.”

The mayoral race may now be narrowed to three, unless Nguyen appeals the Board of Elections’ decision or runs as a candidate. Incumbent Mayor Cohen Barnesward councilor 7 John Walker and Northern Illinois University IT Department employee Kouame Sanan also filed for the seat.

Nguyen did not respond to a request for further comment by press time.

During the city Board of Elections hearing, attorney Andrew Acker and William Vodden said they believe Nguyen should be disqualified for creating what they called an uneven playing field.

“If he’s right, then he’s got a head start on all the other candidates running for nomination on the ballot,” Acker said. “As the effect is, she is first on the ballot. It’s kind of an aggressive way to get right up there at the top of the ballot. But I think it’s inappropriate.”

Mullen and Nguyen said they believe there are problems with the election code and that the violations are excusable as long as they do not affect the integrity of the election.

“There’s no harm in her filing her petitions early,” Mullen said. “If you assume he filed on the first day he was allowed to file, he would go into the lottery. She doesn’t expect to be automatically at the top of the pile because she filed during the nonpartisan period.”

Third Councilor Tracy Smith, who also serves on the city’s Board of Elections, asked if the board’s decision could be a danger to other mayoral and city council candidates who filed during the Nov. 12 to November 18.

“Are we going to screw over the other eight candidates who have filed now?” Smith asked.

Mullen and Nguyen said in response that they believe the decision will be up to the Board of Elections.

“If an objection is raised, yes,” Mullen said. “The board would hear the objection. So you would decide that.”

Prosecutor Matt Rose asked if Sycamore is making the wrong choices, and what weight, if any, should be given to history by the Electoral College.

“The town of Sycamore, which borders us, has a run government and elects councilors by ward,” Rose said. “They have partisan elections where candidates run as independents. Are they doing it wrong too?”

Mullen and Nguyen said that if the city had not passed a referendum for a board-manager form of government, the city would not have a nonpartisan system.

“All we’ve tried to do is do it right,” Mullen said. “We’re not trying to overturn anything, we’re just trying to conform to what we understand to be the law.”

In the decision and final order, the Council found that “Nguyen’s failure to submit the nomination papers within the deadline required by law is a mandatory provision of the Electoral Code, so that the candidate’s name does not appear on the ballot for the position of mayor of the City Hall. city”, according to the decision.

The board further ruled that the city has held partisan consolidated elections for its officers for more than 30 years and knows of no evidence that the city has held nonpartisan consolidated elections for its officers, according to the board’s decision and final order.

Rose said it would “upend the whole scheme” for the Board of Elections to side with just one candidate.

“Rules are rules, and the code is very specific about how you deal with the order in which votes are placed,” Rose said. “It doesn’t say anything about how you would treat it if it’s too soon. It would really spoil the whole scheme of how to do it. Every other candidate out there, we have to respect their rights as well. These are the rules they thought they were going to play by. I don’t know of any real interim law that would allow this Election Commission to deviate from the statute, from the law, and create its own equitable remedy, although we might really want to.”

William Vodden’s other objection to the candidate’s use of his legal name was overruled.