Villa Park trustee candidate asks court to remove opponent from ballot

The First Methodist Church polling place in Downers Grove for the General Election on Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2022.

A candidate for Villa Park trustee is asking a judge to remove one of her opponents from the April 4 ballot.

If Corine Alfano can convince the DuPage County judge that Jorge Cordova doesn’t have enough valid signatures to appear on the ballot, the race for three seats on the village board will be uncontested.

The Villa Park Electoral Board has ruled Cordova can stay on the ballot. Alfano is arguing in court that the electoral board was wrong.

Cordova was required to collect at least 146 signatures from residents who are registered voters. He submitted 165.

Alfano objected to 47 signatures. After a check of voter registration records, the DuPage County clerk reported that 30 signatures were invalid.

On Jan. 24, the Villa Park Electoral Board overruled the clerk’s rulings on some of the protested signatures and concluded Cordova had 146 valid signatures.

Alfano said the electoral board was wrong on two of its rulings. She alleges one woman who signed is not registered to vote at the address she put on the petition. Alfano alleges that another signature the board accepted in which Cordova submitted a copy of a notarized statement from the voter proving the signature was valid was not properly notarized.

Cordova could not be reached for comment Jan. 30.

The hearing was set for Thursday morning.