Brad Strauss might not be taking his seat as 6th ward alderman if a petition is upheld.

Kevin “K.O.” Johnson filed a petition Tuesday against Strauss, DeKalb County Clerk Sharon Holmes and the City of DeKalb. Johnson claims in his lawsuit the election violated Illinois Election Law and Article II Section 3 of the Illinois State Constitution. There is not, however, a Section 3 in Article II. Johnson is referring to Article III, Section 3 which states, “All elections shall be free and equal.”

The lawsuit is based on what Johnson claims is the “misclassification of approximately 39 registered voters as residing in the 7th ward of the City of DeKalb who factually reside in the 6th ward of the City of DeKalb,” according to lawsuit documents.

Strauss was elected to the 6th ward aldermanic seat April 20 by a vote of 69 and Johnson received 58.

Johnson said residents who used to live in the 7th ward were annexed to the 6th ward when the redistricting process occurred. “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. “It was just an honest mistake,” he said.

Johnson is asking for the election to be declared void immediately and for the court to bar Strauss from taking his oath to officially become 6th ward alderman. Johnson also is seeking a special election for the 6th ward only to determine who should sit on the DeKalb City Council.

Johnson said he is naming Strauss, Holmes and the City of DeKalb in the suit because the state board of elections requires him to notify anyone who is affected by the position. Strauss, however, called the petition “pure maliciousness.”” He has shown a true lack of class,” Johnson said.

Strauss said, “My opponent ran a mudslinging campaign and decided to pursue the matter for his own personal needs with no regards for the city’s expense.”

Johnson, however, said “it’s in everybody’s best interest to have the election redone.

“It was a really difficult decision (to file the petition),” Johnson said.

Johnson said he did not file sooner because of the process he had to go through took some time.

If the court grants Johnson’s requests, the 6th ward seat could be left open until the situation is resolved, DeKalb City Attorney Ron Matekaitis said. “The city does not want to leave any ward seat disenfranchised for any time,” Matekaitis said.

DeKalb Mayor Greg Sparrow said he would leave the seat open because of the “special circumstances.”

Matekaitis said he does not “believe there is a basis for a special election to be held.”

He said, “To my knowledge and information, only one person requested a ballot in the 6th ward. These types of situations do more injury and damage.”

Sparrow said the city “certified the vote and distributed it.” “To me, the vote stands.”

Matekaitis said it will be difficult to hold another election with the same people voting because the 6th ward includes residence halls and most of the voters will be leaving for the summer soon. If the special election is granted to be held in the fall semester, there will be different people living in the residence halls than there are now, Matekaitis said.

Holmes said the hearing is scheduled for 9:30 a.m. today.