Objection week opens for Chicago's 2027 ballot. Our count shows which Council candidates have the thinnest petition cushions

Starting today, Oct. 27, any registered Chicago voter can challenge a candidate's nominating papers for the Feb. 23, 2027 election. The window closes Nov. 2. Objections are filed in person at the Board of Election Commissioners' objection office, 69 W. Washington St., Suite 800, the Board said.

Why it matters: this week decides who can actually appear on your ballot. If the Board upholds an objection, the candidate is removed. In a ward with two names, one successful challenge can leave voters with a single choice.

This follows our Oct. 26 story on the last day of filing. The mayor's race has its own story today.

How an objection works

A candidate's papers are presumed valid unless someone objects in writing within five business days of the filing deadline, according to the Board's 2027 election pamphlet. The Board then sits as an electoral board, hears each case and rules. The most common fight is over signatures: whether enough of them come from registered voters who live in the ward.

Candidates for alderperson need at least 473 valid signatures from voters in their ward. Mayor, clerk and treasurer candidates need 12,500.

What our records add

Who has filed so far. Our alderman candidate list has 84 candidates in 49 wards, including 44 sitting alderpersons. It comes from the Board's receipts for nominating papers, which so far cover filings through Oct. 23. The Board has not yet posted its full list, so people who filed in the last days of the period, including Monday, are not all there yet.

What our signature count is, and isn't. For each candidate we counted the filled-in signature lines on every sheet of the petition copy the Board provided, leaving out crossed-out lines. That is not the Board's count of valid signatures. Some lines may be duplicates or from people outside the ward, and the Board only checks when someone objects.

By that count, the median sitting alderperson turned in about 1,965 lines and the median challenger about 1,348. Every incumbent on our list turned in more than 1,000. The lowest was Ald. Lamont J. Robinson (4th Ward), at 1,007, with no opponent on our list.

The thinnest cushions. Thirteen candidates turned in fewer than 1,000 lines by our count. All are challengers or candidates for open seats:

• Ian Watkins, 25th Ward: 495
• Jimmy Darnell "Jaye Jones" Jones, 8th Ward: 495
• Mary Eason, 27th Ward: 593
• Radyn Franc, 7th Ward: 610
• Skyler Cepek, 13th Ward: 614
• Jillian Robinson, 19th Ward: 662
• Sheila Gunn-Ward, 7th Ward: 673
• Jonathan Stevanovich, 32nd Ward: 721
• Peter Normand, 49th Ward: 756, plus 69 crossed-out lines
• Jamesenna Anderson, 24th Ward: 775
• Shenina Fletcher, 16th Ward: 878
• Agnieszka Kozielska, 38th Ward: 937
• Michael Keating, 43rd Ward: 70 lines on nine sheets in our copy. The Board's receipt for this filing did not list a last page number, so we can't tell whether our copy is complete.

A thin cushion is not a sign that a petition is flawed, and a big one is no guarantee. A candidate with 600 good signatures stays on the ballot; one with 3,000 lines can be knocked off if too many are invalid.

Where one objection could decide a race. In seven wards on our list, a two-person race pairs a candidate with more than 1,000 lines against one with fewer: the 13th, 16th, 19th, 24th, 27th, 38th and 43rd. The 13th and 19th are open seats.

Some counts are low because our copy is. For seven candidates, our copy had at least three fewer readable sheets than the Board's receipt lists, so their counts are marked "incomplete." The largest gap is for Ald. Samantha Nugent (39th Ward), 26 sheets.

What's next

• Nov. 2: last day to file objections.
• By Nov. 4: the Board must hold lotteries for ballot position where candidates filed at the same time, according to its calendar.
• Dec. 17: last day to withdraw; the Board certifies the ballot.

We will list every objection, who filed it and how it was decided on our objections page, and add late filers to the ward pages as the Board releases them. Find your ward's race in our voter guide.

Sources: Chicago Board of Election Commissioners: Candidates; Chicago Politics: Filing closes (Oct. 26).