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Schaumburg Township Democrats to appeal removal from ballot

Five Schaumburg Township Democrats removed last week from the April 9 ballot will appeal the ruling to a Cook County circuit court judge.

Trustee candidates Moe Patel, Mike Murray, Carolyn A. Quinn, Zuhair Nubani and highway commissioner candidate Michael Lenehan were removed from the ballot by a 2-1 vote of the township electoral board on the basis that they were slated to run by an official — Mike Cudzik — who had not been properly appointed township committeeman.

The electoral board also unanimously removed Patel because his mandatory statement of economic interest did not identify which office he was seeking. That decision may be appealed as well.

“The voters of Schaumburg Township deserve a real election with real choices on April 9,” Cudzik wrote in a statement issued Sunday night. “We feel the electoral board, controlled by two incumbent Republicans who are themselves running for re-election to township positions, ignored relevant case law that supports our case and allowed partisan bias to dictate its position. We have a strong case and we will take it before an independent judge to ensure that the voters of Schaumburg Township are not disenfranchised.”

Township Supervisor Mary Wroblewski and Clerk Timothy Heneghan, who are running unopposed for re-election, voted to remove the Democratic candidates. They agreed with the electoral board’s attorney, Tom Bastian, that Cudzik had not been properly appointed and therefore could not slate candidates.

Attorney Ellen Raymond of Burr Ridge — a court-appointed member of the electoral board — agreed with the Democrats, who argued that a procedural error should not result in the removal of candidates.

Murray said he and his Democratic slate running mates took some days after the ruling to decide whether to appeal.

“Cost weighed into it, but we thought we were right on the issue,” Murray said. “We’re moving forward on all fronts, and we’ll see what happens.”

The Democratic candidates expect to file their appeal before the Friday deadline and then be before a judge almost immediately after that.

The other Republican candidates on the ballot include incumbents Robert Vinnedge, Jeffery Mytych, Diane Dunham and newcomer Nimish Jani for trustee and current Trustee Scott Kegarise for highway commissioner. The current Township Assessor, Republican John Lawson, is running unopposed.

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