Cook County State's Attorney's primary could take until April 2 to determine winner
CHICAGO (CBS) -- The Democratic Cook County State's Attorney's office primary remained too close to call for a second day Thursday, with Clayton Harris III and Eileen O'Neill Burke still fighting for the nomination.
As of late Thursday, Burke had 50.8% of the vote, or 246,470, compared with 49.2%, or 239,318, for Harris. The gap between them was 8,152 votes.
While 100% of precincts have reported some results, many mail-in ballots were still outstanding late Thursday.
CBS 2's cameras were rolling Thursday as several checks were made on mail-in ballots. The process could still take a while.
Technically, the deadline to certify a winner is Tuesday, April 2 – so it could take almost two more weeks. Representatives of the Chicago Board of Elections said either way, voters will need to be patient.
Workers at the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners Headquarters pulled up each ballot and checked it twice. They conducted signature checks – making sure the signature on each mail-in ballot matches the voter's identity.
Poll watchers for both Harris and Burke were also present.
"Given the closeness of this race, given the attention on it, we definitely have a large number of poll watchers that are here today," said Board of Elections spokesman Max Bever. "We are happy to see them. They are going through the signature verification process, watching board staff, watching that process play out."
The process is playing out because the race for the Cook County State's Attorney Democratic nomination remains so close.
Burke – a former prosecutor, criminal defense attorney, and Illinois Appellate Court justice – holds a narrow lead over Harris, a former Cook County assistant state's attorney and current lecturer at the University of Chicago Law School.
Thousands of sealed votes could make all the difference.
But the workers on Thursday weren't counting the sealed votes – they were examining and comparing signatures.
"If that signature doesn't match the signature on someone's voter registration filed, that ballot will ultimately be rejected. But that voter will get a letter, as well as an email, letting them know that as well - as how to cure their ballot. Usually, that means providing additional ID - either a driver's license or other additional information - so that ballot is counted. So it's a bit of a long process when we first get a vote-by-mail ballot in our hand."
Meanwhile, the poll watchers will be watching every step as thousands of mail-in ballots are processed.
So could it actually take until April 2 to determine a winner?
"It's very possible. You know, when races often are very close - we just saw that in municipal elections too - there will be campaigns that want to see every single vote counted," Bever said, "and the Board of Elections, we do not officially call races until every vote is counted."
The process will continue as ballots continue arriving. The board is expecting to have most of them by the end of the day Thursday.
