Judge denies request to delay ballot in Glendale Heights case

A DuPage County judge has denied Glendale Heights Village President Chodri Khokhar’s request to have the county clerk stop preparing the April 1 consolidated election ballot while the court considers whether his name should appear on the ballot.

Judge Bryan Chapman handed down the decision on Friday. Court records do not indicate why the judge denied the request.

But the DuPage County clerk’s office said in a motion and exhibit it filed that it needs an answer on or before Feb. 14 so it can develop, proof and set the ballot in time to send them to military and overseas voters and for early voting.

The next court date is Feb. 13.

The village’s Municipal Officers Election Board decided on Dec. 23 to remove Khokhar from the ballot. It agreed with objector Matthew Corbin’s allegation that Khokhar’s election petitions exhibited a pattern of fraud.

Corbin alleged that people signed others’ names on at least 12 of the 24 sheets in Khokhar’s petition and filed an affidavit from one man swearing that he did not sign Khokhar’s petition.

The county clerk’s office also ruled some signatures were invalid.

Khokhar said that he circulated all the sheets himself and that he did not allow anybody to sign on behalf of somebody else.

In his court petition, Khokhar said the electoral board members are not experts on signatures and have no qualifications to review signatures. In addition, he argues the electoral board was biased against him because its three members — Trustee Chester Pojack, Trustee Mary Schroeder and Village Clerk Marie Schmidt — are supporting another mayoral candidate. He also accused Pojack of making a racist statement about a person who testified on Khokhar’s behalf at the electoral board hearing.

Khokhar was elected village president in 2021.

Criminal case

Meanwhile, Khokhar was in a criminal courtroom on Monday for a case where he is accused of threatening a village trustee and pushing the village’s police chief.

The case was continued to Feb. 27.

Felony disorderly conduct charges were filed against Khokhar in August 2023. A misdemeanor battery charge was added in October 2023.

In the disorderly conduct charges, Khokhar is accused of reporting to two police officers in April and May 2023 that Trustee Mohammad Siddiqi had threatened to bite him. He filed the reports knowing there were “no reasonable grounds for believing that the offense had been committed,” according to the grand jury indictment.

The misdemeanor charge alleges Khokhar pushed Chief George Pappas with two hands on Oct. 25, 2023.

https://www.dailyherald.com/20250127/local-politics/judge-denies-request-to-delay-ballot-in-glendale-heights-case/