Cicero Town President Larry Dominick and three of his political allies will not be allowed to rule on objections filed against candidates in the upcoming town elections, including those they support and oppose, a Cook County judge said Friday.

In a ruling believed to be unprecedented, Judge Edmund Ponce de Leon disqualified the town's electoral board, made up of Dominick, Town Clerk Maria Punzo-Arias and Town Supervisor Joseph Virruso and alternate Dennis Raleigh, a town trustee. He replaced it with three substitutes to ensure fair hearings on any objections.

Dominick, Punzo-Arias and Virruso are candidates for re-election in the Feb. 26 election.

The judge appointed attorneys Adam Lasker, Daniel Bolin and Tiffany Nelson-Jaworski, who do not live in Cicero, to the board.

Courtney Greve, spokeswoman for the Cook County clerk's office, said she did not recall a judge ever tossing out an entire election board and replacing it with substitutes.

Attorneys for town president candidate Juan Ochoa and town collector candidate David Donahue argued in court Friday that it would be a financial conflict of interest for the Dominick-led electoral board to do its duties objectively.

Ponce de Leon agreed, noting that the board members have "a substantive personal and pecuniary interest in the outcome of these cases" even if a member recuses himself or herself if he or she is subject to an objection.

He noted that the three electoral board members and Raleigh belong to Dominick's Cicero Voters Alliance. "All members have vested interest in pay and benefits, including family members on the Cicero payroll, which may be affected by election results" the judge noted.

Petition objections have been filed against Ochoa and most of his slate.

"I feel very strongly that my name will be on the ballot because we now have a fair board," Ochoa said.

Ochoa and Donahue hope the new board will decide to kick Dominick off the ballot. An objection accuses Dominick of owing money to the town.

Cicero spokesman Ray Hanania said Dominick's team doesn't care about the ruling. "The real issue is Ochoa and Donahue have residency and signature problems with their petitions," he said. "I think the (new) board will realize that."