O’Neill Burke’s lead grows, a bit
Eileen O’Neill Burke’s lead over Clayton Harris III in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney grew slightly Wednesday after a week of steady shrinking, but the ever so tight contest remains unresolved.
The latest batches of mail-in ballots tabulated by city and suburban election officials show O’Neill Burke leading Harris by 1,637 votes, a slight increase from Tuesday, when the two were separated by 1,598 votes.
Based on the unofficial results, O’Neill Burke, a retired appellate court justice, now leads Harris, a university lecturer, 50.16% to 49.84%.
The campaigns are in somewhat of a holding pattern as the methodical counting of mail-in votes continues now more than a week after polls closed on March 19. Election officials have said the counting will continue until the April 2 deadline to certify a winner.
State law doesn’t allow automatic recounts. If the current margin holds, Harris would have to request one and his campaign would be responsible for paying for it.
“Given the evolving dynamics in this race since election day, it is important to wait and ensure every vote is counted through the April 2 deadline,” a spokesperson for the Harris campaign said on Wednesday.
That came after the Cook County clerk’s office said it tallied 255 mail ballots on Wednesday, while the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said it processed just over 2,800.
Provisional ballots, which are cast when a voter’s registration information is not available when they show up to vote or their eligibility is otherwise in doubt, will be processed on Thursday, according to city election officials. Provisional ballots are only counted if the voter’s eligibility is eventually verified. Staff determined there were 1,991 provisional ballots from election day and early voting.
The winner of the primary will face Republican former Ald. Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski in November.