Glendale Heights village president tossed from ballot

Glendale Heights Village President Chodri Khokhar was removed from the spring ballot on Monday during a contentious hearing before the village’s electoral board.

The board ruled 3-0 that all of the signature sheets that Khokhar submitted with his nominating petition should be declared invalid because the paperwork exhibited a pattern of fraud. The panel consisted of Trustee Chester Pojack, Trustee Mary Schroeder and Village Clerk Marie Schmidt.

Khokhar, who is seeking a second term, yelled at the electoral board members before and after the ruling. He called them biased, racist and corrupt.

Why Glendale Heights village president could be thrown off ballot

The objector, Matthew Corbin, argued that on at least 12 sheets, people signed for other people. Some signatures had been ruled invalid by the DuPage County clerk’s office. Corbin submitted an affidavit from one man who swore he did not sign the petition.

Khokhar, who represented himself, testified that he circulated all 24 petition sheets himself. “I did not let anybody sign on behalf of another person,” he said.

Khokhar accused the electoral board of violating his constitutional rights by not letting him question Corbin, who did not attend the meeting. But the electoral board’s attorney said there was no right to do so because it was a civil — not a criminal — procedure. He also said objectors are not required to attend hearings.

Corbin was represented by lawyer Tiffany Nelson Jaworski.

“Why are there so many discrepancies?” Pojack asked Khokhar, at which point Khokhar pointed at Schmidt and accused her of being corrupt.

Khokhar yelled at Jaworski, accusing her of testifying and falsely accusing him of intimidating potential witnesses. He called her shameful and said he was going to file a complaint against her with the state’s attorney registration and discipline commission.

During his summation, Khokhar told the board last Friday that he asked DuPage County Chief Judge Bonnie Wheaton to remove the electoral board members. He claims they have long been biased against him.

“This is a racist board. I am tired of it,” resident Tony Andrade exclaimed from the gallery. Andrade’s signature for Khokhar was challenged but upheld.

Khokhar also wanted to have testimony regarding bias by the board. However, the board’s attorney, Michael Kasper, said that was not relevant.

As Andrade was interjecting, Kasper threatened to have two police officers clear the room. “We will have decorum,” Kasper said.

The yelling continued after the hearing, with Khokhar and Pojack coming nearly nose-to-nose as Pojack left the room.

The board also removed mayoral candidate Edward Pope, who had one fewer signature than needed. He needed 102 signatures to be on the ballot and collected 121. However, the county clerk ruled that 19 signatures were invalid for various reasons. The board then ruled the signatures of a married couple invalid because they had previously signed a petition for another village president candidate, Mike Ontiveroz.

Under state law, you can only sign a petition for one candidate seeking a position.

Ontiveroz, James Sullivan, Trustee Mike Light and Rebecca Giannelli are the remaining candidates running for village president.