Judge knocks out petition to void election

By Sabryna Cornish

A petition to void the 6th Ward aldermanic election was denied Thursday by a DeKalb County judge.

Kevin “K.O.” Johnson, a candidate for 6th Ward alderman in the April 20 election, petitioned to have the contest declared void because some voters in the 6th Ward did not realize they were eligible to vote in that ward.

Strauss won by a vote of 69 to Johnson’s 58 votes.

Johnson named his opponent, Brad Strauss, as well as DeKalb County Clerk Sharon Holmes and the City of DeKalb in the petition.

DeKalb County Circuit Judge John Countryman stated in his judgement, “After hearing evidence and argument from the petitioner and respondent, the court finds that the petitioner lacks standing.

“Furthermore, the court finds that there is insufficient evidence to void the election, injoin the county clerk from issuing a certificate of election, injoin the city from seating Mr. Strauss, injoin Mr. Strauss from taking the oath of office or hold a replacement election,” he stated.

Johnson represented himself while DeKalb City Attorney Ron Matekaitis and DeKalb County State’s Attorney Michael Coghlan represented the city.

Johnson previously said residents who used to live in the 7th Ward were annexed to the 6th Ward when the redistricting process occurred after the last census. “The paperwork was not updated properly,” he said, indicating that some voters were not aware they were eligible to vote for the 6th Ward aldermanic race.

Strauss had said the petition was “pure maliciousness,” and added that “(Johnson) has shown a true lack of class.”