JERSEY CITY -- Former Mayor Gerry McCann wants Ward B Councilman Chris Gadsden disqualified from running in November's municipal election, saying Gadsden submitted more than 100 nominating petitions that are invalid.

McCann filed his objection to Gadsden's candidacy today, the deadline for ballot challenges. The former mayor told The Jersey Journal he reviewed the nominating petitions of every incumbent seeking re-election this year and found only Gadsden came up short.

Gadsden, 43, a Lincoln High School vice principal who joined the council after a special election last year, is seeking his first full term in November. He faces two challengers, Jessica Hellinger and Mira Prinz-Arey.

Gadsden told The Jersey Journal he was "blindsided" by McCann's objection. He said he expects to remain on the ballot.

"I don't know what the deal is," Gadsden said.

City Clerk Robert Byrne's office will now review each petition Gadsden submitted. It's not clear how long that process will take. The ballot position drawing is scheduled for next Monday.

McCann, a code inspector for the city Department of Public Works, denied that his effort to deny Gadsden a spot on the ballot is political or personal.

"I like Chris Gadsden," McCann said, adding, "If anybody should be able to do petitions correctly, it should be the person sitting in the seat. They know what the law is."

Gadsden is seeking re-election on the slate of mayoral hopeful and longtime Fulop rival Bill Matsikoudis. If he is driven from the ballot, Fulop's Ward B candidate, Prinz-Arey, would have a significant advantage in the race. McCann's sister, Barbara McCann Stamato, is a Fulop political operative.

Fulop campaign spokeswoman Hannah Peterson said the first she heard of McCann's challenge was when this reporter asked her about it.

"Everyone knows that Gerry challenges petitions around New Jersey each election, so it is no surprise that he is looking at petitions here as well," Peterson said.

Asked whether he thinks McCann's challenge has any connection to Stamato's work with Fulop, Gadsden said: "I don't know what people's motives are. I just keep moving."

To get on the ballot, candidates must submit nominating petitions signed by registered voters. The required minimum number of signatures equals 1 percent of the number of registered voters either citywide (for mayoral or at-large council races) or in the ward the candidate seeks to represent. In Ward B, the minimum number of required petitions is 206.

Voters signing petitions for ward council hopefuls must live in the ward the candidate seeks to represent.

In all, McCann is challenging 153 of Gadsden's 335 petitions.

In McCann's letter to Byrne, the former mayor alleges that 21 of Gadsden's petitions were signed by voters who live outside of Ward B; 99 were signed by people who are not registered to vote at the address they put on the councilman's petitions; 11 were signed by voters who had signed another candidate's petition first; and 16 have signatures that do not match the voter's handwriting.

Ballot challenges are not uncommon in Jersey City. In 2013, then-Mayor Jerramiah Healy's campaign tried unsuccessfully to keep Khemraj "Chico" Ramchal from using his nickname on the ballot.

In 2005, mayoral hopeful Melissa Holloway was disqualified after a successful challenge of her nominating petitions by Healy. Byrne ruled that Holloway was five short of the 1,197 petitions she needed. The state Supreme Court later ruled unanimously that Holloway's name should be placed on the ballot. Healy won in a landslide.

In 2009, Heights council candidate James Carroll attempted to boot competitor Christian Araujo from the ballot, saying Araujo did not have enough valid petitions. Byrne ruled in Araujo's favor. Both men lost in the first round of balloting to the incumbent, Bill Gaughan.

Also in 2009, Healy opponents attempted to keep his name off the ballot, citing his 2006 arrest on a disorderly persons charge in Bradley Beach. Healy remained in the race and won handily.

McCann was elected twice as mayor, first in 1981 and again in 1989. He himself was deemed ineligible to run for mayor twice, first in 1997 because he was on parole from a 1992 conviction in federal court that also led to him being driven from office during his second term. And in 2001 the state Supreme Court ruled he could not run for office because the state's Faulkner Act bans "any person convicted of an offense involving or touching on his public office, position or employment" from running for office or holding a public position.

Terrence T. McDonald may be reached at tmcdonald@jjournal.com. Follow him on Twitter @terrencemcd. Find The Jersey Journal on Facebook.