An anti-smart meter advocacy group is appealing a judge’s decision that will keep a referendum over Naperville’Smart Grid project off the ballot in an upcoming election. Attorney Doug Ibendahl filed the appeal on behalf of the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness Group with the Appellate Court of Illinois, Second District, in Elgin.

The effort to add the referendum to the ballot has been contentious. Bill Dawe, who supports the smart grid project, filed an objection to the petition for the referendum. He challenged the referendum on a number of grounds, including that the question was in two parts, and therefore not permissible, and that the petition didn’t contain enough signatures from registered Naperville voters. The Naperville Electoral Board agreed with Dawe’s objection on the signatures and said the referendum shouldn’t be on the ballot.

Lawyers for the Smart Meter Awareness Group and Dawe petitioned Circuit Judge Bonnie Wheaton “to review the decision of Naperville’s electoral board, which ruled earlier this month that the Naperville Smart Meter Awareness Group does not have enough valid signatures to put a petition on the March ballot asking residents whether the city should stop the project and dismantle the equipment.”

The anti-smart meter group claims that there are significant health, security, and privacy concerns unresolved about the wireless electric meters. But Judge Wheaton upheld the election board’s decision.

According to the Chicago Tribune, Ibendahl explained that the basis of his motion is about due process, arguing that the Electoral Board reviewed county voting records from DuPage and Will County in private, and that Judge sustained some objections that were not presented to his clients until after the Electoral Board had closed its hearing.

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