Write-in candidate Linh Nguyen needs a minimum of 20 votes to secure the Democratic nomination for DeKalb Mayor, according to DeKalb County Clerk Tasha Sims.
The number was determined after the Clerk consulted with the Illinois State Board of Elections regarding how to interpret existing statutes.
This will be the first time a primary consolidated election is being administered in the county.
According to state law, if a write-in candidate is the only candidate running for office in an election, they have to receive the minimum number of signatures required for a nomination petition of that position.
The county doesn’t have historical data on the pool of Democratic primary voters for DeKalb in a consolidated election, states Sims in an email to WNIJ.
So, instead the clerk’s office is “using the total voter count of 3,918 as the baseline” stated Sims.
“This calculation" stated Sims, "serves as the most reasonable and practical approach based on the information available."
The baseline is multiplied by half a percentage point, per statute, and rounded up to determine the minimum 20 valid write-in votes needed to win the Democratic primary consolidated election.
Nguyen tries again
In November, the DeKalb Electoral Board disqualified Nguyen’s candidacy for DeKalb mayor after ruling that she filed her petition signatures too early.
During an electoral board hearing, Nguyen’s lawyer Ed Mullen argued the city is a nonpartisan form of government. Therefore, he said Nguyen filed her candidacy according to the timetable described for nonpartisan elections under the Illinois Election Board guidelines.
“In 1960 the city of DeKalb passed a referendum to become a managerial form of government,” Mullen said. “Under the managerial form of government, which is Article Five of the election code, there are a number of provisions within that section that indicate that a managerial form of government is a nonpartisan form of government.”
But DeKalb’s city attorney Matthew Rose said the city is a partisan form of government.
“My best guess is that we're partisan, and that's because we have a very long history of voting partisan,” Rose said. “We don't have a referendum specifically adopting a nonpartisan system.”
Ultimately, the electoral board sided with the understanding that the city of DeKalb runs partisan elections.
Even so, the DeKalb County Clerk’s Office hasn’t run a partisan primary election for a consolidated election, in which voters of a political party select a candidate.
The current candidates for DeKalb Mayor ran as independents. They are incumbent Mayor Cohen Barnes, Ald. John Walker and NIU Tech employee Kouame Sanan.
Nguyen’s latest effort to get her name on the April ballot has drawn concern from the DeKalb County Clerk.
Sims, in a press release stated, “This Consolidated Primary Election is unprecedented in DeKalb County’s history and carries financial implications for taxpayers countywide.” She estimates the cost at $100,000.
Republican Sims defeated Nguyen in 2022 for DeKalb County Clerk.
In response, Nguyen in a statement to WNIJ said, “I’m asking for the law to be upheld. How can you put a price on a functioning democracy? We have laws to protect people’s choices at the ballot box and defend our Democracy.”
Early voting for the Democratic primary for DeKalb Mayor begins January 16. The last day to cast a ballot is February 25th.
The ballot will appear blank and Nguyen is the only qualified write-in candidate.
If Nguyen succeeds, she’ll face Barnes, Walker and Sanan in the April consolidated election.
