A Will County judge on Tuesday turned aside a move to toss four candidates for Joliet Junior College trustee seats off the Nov. 4 ballot.
The ruling by Associate Judge Thomas Feehan upholds a Sept. 10 decision by a three-member Joliet Junior College electoral board.
In a petition filed with the board, former Joliet Junior College employee Kenneth Pierce challenged four of the 10 candidates for the two six-year terms on the seven-member board, charging that their petitions were invalid.
The four were Thelma Kirkland and Robert Wunderlich of Joliet; Frank Cavazos of Lockport; and Jeff May of Minooka.
Wunderlich, the board chairman, is seeking re-election to one of the seats. The second seat up for election is being held by Delores Johnson of Newark, who is not seeking re-election.
Completing the field for the two seats are Richard Benson of Peotone; Ken J. Kennedy of Crest Hill; Susan Block Gregurich of Elwood; Elaine Shestokas of Lemont; and Henry Pillard and Liz Siron-Yates both of Joliet.
The petitions were challenged on the basis that some pages were not numbered and the offices were not thoroughly identified.
But Feehan upheld the board’s finding that the errors were “technical defects” not serious enough to throw candidates off the ballot.
Kevin Bruning, Pierce’s lawyer, said no decision has been made on whether to appeal.
County Clerk Jan Gould said she plans to go ahead with the voting based on Feehan’s ruling.
“We are going to continue with absentee voting unless its appealed and the courts give us some direction,” she said. “We can’t stop the election process.”
The 10,000-student district is made up of all of Will County and parts of Grundy, Livingston, Cook, LaSalle, Kendall and Kankakee Counties.
