Chicago Board of Elections adds over 10,000 votes "mistakenly left out" to unofficial count in State's Attorney race
CHICAGO (CBS) — The gap in the race for Cook County State's Attorney has narrowed even more. The Chicago Board of Elections added more than 10,000 votes to its total count on Saturday after its director of public information said he mistakenly left out some vote-by-mail ballots.
The unofficial count now stands at 368,990 ballots cast after the 10,659 additional votes were added, bringing the citywide turnout to 24.44%. There are 1,509,554 active registered voters.
"In adding up the total number of Vote By Mail ballots the Board had received back so far, I mistakenly left out additional ballots that had been received back via USPS the evening of Monday, March 18," said Max Bever, director of public information for the Chicago Board of Elections. "I traded speed for accuracy in reporting out numbers this week as quickly as I could. I truly regret this error on my part and for the confusion that it has caused the voters of Chicago. I will share updated numbers only when they are accurate and verified."
In his statement, Bever said poll watchers from the campaigns for both Democratic candidates for Cook County State's Attorney have been informed and will be present for additional counting on Sunday.
As of Saturday night Eileen O'Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III by just under 4,800 votes.