The race for Cook County State's Attorney tightened as the Chicago Board of Elections confessed to an oversight that failed to count more than 10,000 ballots, according to statements released Saturday. These uncounted votes, discovered to have been erroneously omitted from the unofficial tally due to a hurried reporting process, could shift the current standings in the Democratic primary.
In an act of transparency, Max Bever, director of public information for the Chicago Board of Elections admitted his mistake. "I traded speed for accuracy in reporting out numbers this week as quickly as I could," Bever said, ABC7 Chicago reported. After the inclusion of the previously overlooked ballots, Eileen O'Neill Burke is ahead of Clayton Harris III by a margin narrowed to just under 4,800 votes.
The oversight came to light as the city of Chicago waited with bated breath for the results of the closely contested battle for the prosecutorial helm of Cook County. Coupled with the newfound ballots, CBS Chicago reports that the citywide turnout has now increased to 24.44% with a corrected total count of 368,990 ballots cast.
The additional votes were vote-by-mail ballots received on the evening of March 18, which went unaccounted for, until the error was caught. Bever assured the public, "I will share updated numbers only when they are accurate and verified," signaling a commitment to rectify the mistake under the scrutiny of poll watchers from both campaigns who are set to attend additional counting on Sunday. Amidst these developments, the Chicago Board of Elections laid out a timeline for further updates. "We anticipate an upload early next week with final results," explained Cook County Deputy Clerk of Elections Edmund Michalowski, as detailed by ABC7 Chicago.
The Democratic candidate that emerges victorious after these corrections will march on to confront Republican Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski in the November general election.
