The Chicago Board of Elections previously suggested that it would be close to finished with counting mail-in ballots on Saturday. But that wasn't the case when the evening rolled around -- as the results of the Cook County State's Attorney's race still remained undermined.
Ballots will be counted again on Sunday, including with mail-in votes, according to NBC 5 Political Reporter Mary Ann Ahern. Election officials weren't originally planning to do so.
Max Bever, a spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Elections, said 11,000 votes were expected to be counted by the end of Saturday and more would be processed on Sunday. When it comes to mail-in votes, the ballots need to have registrations and signatures checked, so the process isn't as easy as placing the ballots into a scanner.
However, in the midst of questions of election integrity, miscommunicating how many voters are left raises questions.
As of Saturday evening, judge Eileen O'Neill Burke's lead over Clayton Harris III was narrowing, but the race still remained too close to call. As of 5:21 p.m., O'Neill Burke was up 4,771 votes, with 50.47% - 255,010 votes - compared to Harris' 49.5% - 250,239.
The race for the Democratic primary has been a closely watched one, with both O'Neill Burke and Harris looking to replace incumbent Kim Foxx, who is not running for a third term.
Clayton Harris is a law school lecturer at the University of Chicago and a former Cook County state’s attorney. Eileen O’Neill Burke is also a former prosecutor, as well as a criminal defense attorney then an appellate court judge.
Illinois Election 2024
Both approached the Cook County Democratic Party and Board President Toni Preckwinkle for the party backing and her endorsement, which ultimately went to Harris. O'Neill Burke received the endorsement of the Chicago Tribune's Editorial Board.
Former Ald. Bob Fioretti, who had launched a run for State’s Attorney in 2020, was the lone Republican on the ballot in this year’s election. He will also be joined on the ballot by Andrew Charles Kopinski, who will represent the Libertarian party in November.
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