A Homer Glen candidate for Will County Board will not appear in the Democratic primary in March after a judge affirmed the Electoral Board was correct when it voted to remove his name from the ballot. Kevin Koukol planned to run in the Democratic primary for County Board District 4, which covers mos t of the Homer Glen and Mokena areas. His petition papers were challenged after he wrote on his statement of candidacy that he was running for County Board District 6, which covers the Joliet region, and the paperwork was changed to County Board District 4 after it was notarized. Because of staggered terms, there is no election this year for District 6. An Electoral Board ruled in December that writing the wrong district on his paperwork and altering it after it was notarized was enough of an error to be removed from the ballot. The Electoral Board said last month that Koukol did not change the paperwork himself, but rather Mark Garwon, a former Homer Township trustee who was acting on Koukol’s behalf, crossed off the 6 and wrote in 4 at the county clerk’s office before submitting the paperwork. The papers had already been notarized, and the Electoral Board last month said there was sufficient time for Koukol to submit his candidacy papers correctly before the close of the filing period. Koukol appealed the decision, and a Will County judge on Friday affirmed the Electoral Board’s ruling. Barring an appeal to the appellate court, Koukol’s name will not appear on the Democratic primary ballot. Koukol’s attorney Robert Windon said he believed it was a minor error that should not have invalidated the candidacy papers. He said he will talk to Koukol to see if he is interested in taking the case to the appellate court. Koukol did not return a message seeking comment. Perry Abbasi, an attorney for District 4 Democratic candidate Sheri Boniecki-Cooling, who filed the original objection to the petitions, said there were too many errors to ignore. The alterations were not minor, occurred after the paperwork was notarized, were not changed by Koukol and may have been altered without Koukol’s consent, Abbasi said. The Democratic primary for District 4 will now be uncontested with two candidates, Boniecki-Cooling and William Pratt, seeking two seats. Four candidates, Stephen Balich, James Richmond, Michael Lepore and Pawel Tyrala, are running in the Republican primary, with the top two vote-getters facing Boniecki-Cooling and Pratt in November. Balich and Richmond are incumbents. Garwon, who submitted Koukol’s nominating petitions to the Will County Clerk, signed a document saying he was the one who altered the County Board seat that Koukol was seeking. Garwon served in Balich’s administration when Balich was the Homer Township supervisor, and Balich notarized that document that explained the error. Boniecki-Cooling said she believed the judge’s decision to affirm the Electoral Board’s ruling was a “win for voters” and upholds fair and honest elections. “The court’s decision makes it clear election laws matter and attempts to bend the rules or game the system won’t succeed,” she said. Michelle Mullins is a freelance reporter for the Daily Southtown. ...read more read less