Raila back on assessor ballot

Cook County assessor candidate Andrea Raila is back on the ballot, and her attorney on Wednesday said he may demand a special election in the race to try to unseat embattled incumbent Joe Berrios.

City election officials say early votes cast for Raila will be counted.

But voters who filed the original objection could still appeal to the state Supreme Court.

Raila’s attorney Frank Avila Jr. says he is demanding an apology from everyone from the Cook County clerk’s office to one of Raila’s opponents, Fritz Kaegi.

Avila said he wants Raila’s early votes back and “may ask” for a special election. “They have to be counted,” he said, adding, “if not, we want to stop the election and have another election.”

A Cook County judge last month upheld a county electoral board’s earlier order to remove Raila’s name from the ballot based on a pattern of fraud in her nominating petitions. But the judge ruled it was too late to physically change the ballots to exclude her name.

But on Wednesday, the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the lower court ruling, meaning not only does Raila stay on the ballot, but early votes cast for her will count, said James Allen, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.

Tina Sfondeles, with Mark Brown contributing