Candidates remain off ballot in Prospect Heights

Prospect Heights mayoral candidate Kurt U. Giehler and incumbent Alderman Gerald T. Anderson will not be on the April 5 ballot, under a ruling issued Tuesday in Cook County Circuit Court.

However, both remain registered as write-in candidates.

Judge Robert W. Bertucci ruled that he does not have jurisdiction to reinstall Giehler and Anderson on the ballot because both were late to appeal the city election board’s decision to remove them.

Bertucci said the appeals were due Feb. 1, five days after the Prospect Heights Election Board knocked them off the April 5 ballot. Giehler filed his appeal Feb. 4, and Anderson appealed Feb. 7.

Anderson, seeking re-election as alderman for the city’s Ward 4, said the judge also told him that his failure to number the pages on his nominating petitions was “fatal.”

Anderson and Giehler, who was taken off the ballot for not having enough signatures on his petitions, both indicated they were unlikely to appeal Bertucci’s decision.

They had argued that the appeal deadline should have been based on when they got copies of the decision, not the day it was made. They also said their appeals were delayed because of difficulties getting signed copies of the election board’s ruling.

The system is set up to protect incumbents, Giehler said, adding that even the fact that Mayor Dolores “Dolly” Vole declared a state of emergency due to Feb. 1 blizzard did not persuade the judge to extend the deadline.

Fellow mayoral candidate Nicholas “Nick” Helmer challenged Giehler’s candidacy petitions. Patrick J. Ludvigsen is running for alderman in Ward 4.