Judge keeps Campton Hills man off ballot

A Kane County judge today upheld the Campton Hills Electoral Board's decision to keep village president hopeful Robert Young off the Feb. 5 ballot.

Barring a successful emergency appeal, Circuit Judge Michael Colwell's decision means current Village President Patsy Smith will be unopposed in the new municipality's first election.

Colwell was asked to review the case by Young, who was removed from the ballot because of errors on his election paperwork and because he was not registered to vote in Kane County when he signed a sworn statement affirming he was qualified to hold elected office. A village resident raised the issues in an objection to Young's filings.

Young's attorney, Andrew J. Sosnowski, said he argued the objection wasn't valid to begin with because the objector, Ed Fiala, didn't explicitly state his "interest" in the election, as required by law.

But Colwell sided with the village electoral board, which ruled Fiala's status as a voter sufficiently demonstrated his stake in the matter.

The judge also found that Young's so-called "false swearing" was "inadvertent as opposed to a deliberate act," Sosnowski said.

Young, who has said he might continue his campaign as a write-in candidate, could not immediately be reached for comment. Sosnowski declined to comment on the judge's ruling.

Sosnowski said Young had not indicated plans to appeal the matter further. Should he decide to, an appellate court would have to delay the county clerk's certification of the ballot and call an emergency hearing, he said.