Activist Marc Loveless, a gay man who had been campaigning for City Clerk post in the February elections, said he will be fighting his removal from the ballot.
According to Chicago Board of Elections ( CBE ) records, Loveless' candidacy was challenged Dec. 1 by Cari Meyers, founder and president of the Puppy Mill Project. Incumbent City Clerk Susana Mendoza worked alongside Meyers to pass legislation banning sales of puppy mill animals in Chicago pet stores in 2014.
The CBE filing states that Loveless' nomination papers totaled 261 pages, were not consecutively numbered and contained at most 6,525 signatures. In order to appear on the ballot, a candidate must have secured 12,500 valid signatures. The filing also states that some pages were not properly notarized.
Loveless said that he turned in a fully-compliant packet that was 900 pages long, with 25 signatures per page.
"We had everything professionally bound and counted," he added. "We were dealing with a noted signature gatherer from the West Side. We know the that the error lies with the board."
Loveless said that, besides taking legal action about the matter, he will mount a write-in campaign to continue running.