O’Neill Burke’s lead over Harris trimmed again
But number of mail-in ballots dwindling
With the universe of returning mail-in ballots from the city and suburbs slowing considerably, retired Appellate Judge Eileen O’Neill Burke’s lead over university lecturer and government official Clayton Harris III dipped below 1,700 votes on Monday in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney.
Harris on Monday was just 1,643 votes behind O’Neill Burke as a wave of nearly 5,300 Democratic mail-in ballots from both the city and suburbs were tallied by the Chicago Board of Elections and Cook County clerk’s office.
Harris won a majority of those votes in both the city and suburbs — though it was at a lower percentage than he’d been getting from city mail-in ballots tallied over the weekend. Since the end of last week, Harris cut the margin of votes by almost 80%.
The counting has continued for nearly a week since Election Day when neither of the candidates declared victory or conceded defeat in their effort to replace outgoing two-term Cook County State’s Attorney Kim Foxx. So far, more than 522,000 ballots have been counted in the Democratic primary race — about 61% of the votes coming from the city and 39% from the suburbs.
The Associated Press has not called the race either. Harris, the county Democratic party’s endorsed candidate, hewed closer on the trail to continuing Foxx’s progressive approach to managing the office, while O’Neill Burke campaigned on more aggressive prosecution.
“If you think things are going just fine right now, I’m not your candidate,” she said during a February debate.
The winner will be the favorite to become the next top prosecutor in heavily Democratic Cook County and will take on Republican nominee Bob Fioretti, a former Chicago alderman, in the November general election.
In addition to adding nearly 2,300 city mail-in votes to the totals, Monday marked the first tallying of suburban mail-in votes since Thursday. O’Neill Burke has led the suburban vote by a roughly 54% to 46% margin, while Harris has performed better among city voters, securing 52% to O’Neill Burke’s 48%.
Monday’s suburban tally included mail-in ballots the county clerk’s office received from Thursday through Sunday. The city tally included mail-in ballots received to the Chicago Board of Elections Friday through Sunday.
Since Wednesday, volunteers and campaign officials for both candidates have been closely monitoring the processing and counting of mail-in ballots from Chicago voters to ensure mailed ballots are properly signed, postmarked by Election Day or earlier and marked by election judges before being scanned for tabulation.
“As the votes are processed and the margin in this race continues to shrink, we are watching closely and evaluating our options,” Harris campaign manager Alaina Hampton said Monday in a statement. “We will determine our next steps when appropriate.”
O’Neill Burke’s campaign has remained optimistic even as her lead has been steadily trimmed.
In a blast email sent to supporters before Tuesday’s
results, O’Neill Burke’s campaign said she expected the vote count to tighten but when it’s complete, “we believe Eileen O’Neill Burke will be our next Cook County state’s attorney. That being said, this is going to be a very close race that will take several more days to complete.”
After vote totals were updated Monday night, the Tribune estimates there are roughly 24,000 outstanding Democratic mail-in suburban ballots. Chicago election officials estimate the number of outstanding city ballots at 46,500. How many of those will be received by the two-week deadline is unknown, but officials anticipate a large number won’t be returned by April 2.
The city expects to count just 300 mail ballots Tuesday, both Democratic and Republican. Suburban officials
declined to say how many ballots might be counted Tuesday.
Over the weekend, both campaigns expressed frustration but encouraged patience when the Chicago Board of Elections reported they had miscalculated the universe of mail-in ballots left to be tallied.
The board’s spokesman, Max Bever, initially reported there were 7,009 vote-bymail ballots received via the U.S. Postal Service on Election Day. That number incorrectly excluded 9,143 mail-in ballots received late in the day on March 18. The mistake was a communications error made in haste, Bever said, taking responsibility.
On Monday, Bever reported another miscalculation, this time in the reported number of provisional ballots on hand. The board initially there were 2,882.
“Unfortunately, a Board staff member initially logged an incorrect number received on Election Day,” Bever said Monday. Staff recently performed an updated manual count and reported there were 1,896 Election Day provisional ballots and 95 from early voters and at the city’s vote center.
Provisional ballots are not counted until the very end of the tabulation process, which in this election will be April 2. Most provisional ballots are cast under special circumstances such as if a voter forgot to bring their identification, voted during court-ordered extended hours, at an incorrect precinct, or if a voter requested a mail-in ballot but changed their minds and decided to vote in person. reported