DeKALB | Two potential DeKalb aldermen submitted last-minute petitions Monday, about one hour before the deadline.

At 3:49 p.m., Bertrand J. Simpson, Jr., director of Admissions and Financial Aid at NIU, filed in hopes of becoming the 1st Ward alderman.

Just 18 minutes later, Scott J. Skarzynski, director of Telecommunication at University Plaza, joined the list, making the 1st Ward election a two-person race.

Simpson said he did not see any reason to beat the deadline and his plan to run was not a last-minute decision.

“It was not a last-minute decision, I’ve been planning on running for a year,” Simpson said. “I’m a citizen of DeKalb, I have lived in this town for 20 years. It’s a natural outgrowth of being a concerned citizen.”

Skarzynski said he is running to get student voices heard, and said his University Plaza experience has helped him understand the student population.

“I feel the student population is poorly represented by the current alderman,” Skarzynski said. “I’m hoping I can make an impact on student issues.”

DeKalb City Clerk Donna Johnson is not surprised with the late additions.

“This is not unusual,” Johnson said. “The first ones in are the first ones on the ballot. If they can’t make it in on the first day, it’s not unusual to wait.”

Johnson said the order names appear on the ballot can change the outcome of the election.

“The ballot placement makes a difference,” Johnson said. “The assumption is, the first one is the incumbent or the forerunner in campaign. Maybe people will say ‘I like this name.'”

Johnson said there was a lot of interest in running in the election, but the number of candidates remains steady at eight.

“I had a lot more packets picked up than I had people come in,” Johnson said, who made 18 candidate packets.

“The first ones that come in and file, they see who their competition is and don’t bother running. It can be an attitude of ‘I don’t want to go out and work that hard because he can beat me.'”

There is still a chance for the list to change.

But instead of people getting added to the list of candidates, they can be taken off.

“When [candidates] turn in all their paperwork, I do not check it and do not verify it,” said Johnson. “Anyone from the public can look in at the petitions or can request copies.”

If the petitions are not done properly, an objection has to be filed.

Johnson understands the amount of work that has to be done to verify all the signatures from registered voters.

Just like these last minute additions, subtractions have happened.

“We’ve had objections filed and there’s a whole time line and procedures,” said Johnson. “It has to be done within five business days.”