A mix of victory and defeat swept the city in Tuesday’s elections, but the election board said the results, specifically in tight aldermanic races, are not complete because of outstanding vote-by-mail ballots.
Thousands of mail-in ballots still need to be counted, said Max Bever, the spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners.
“Friday night, we have just over 44,000 outstanding vote-by-mail ballots that have not arrived back to the board,” he said.
Those ballots could sway close aldermanic races.
“There are a handful close to a 200-to-300 vote difference, especially in the 29th ward and 30th ward,” Bever said.
The 29th ward consists of much of the Austin community area, including the Galewood neighborhood.
As of Saturday, the Board of Election determined C.B. Johnson is less than 300 votes behind in comparison to incumbent Ald. Chris Taliaferro.
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Taliaferro currently leads with 51.4% of the vote to Johnson's 48.6%.
The 30th ward includes parts of some Northwest Side neighborhoods, including Belmont Cragin and Irving Park.
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The Board of Elections said Ruth Cruz currently leads Jessica Gutierrez by a less than a 300 vote margin.
Current results show Cruz at 51.3% of the vote to Gutierrez's 48.7%.
Bever told NBC 5 that vote-by-mail ballots are growing in popularity, adding that we can expect to see more outstanding mail-in ballots in future elections that could affect the outcome of close races.
“Now that we have a pool of nearly 200,000 vote-by-mail ballots going out for each election, that makes a big difference,” said Bever.
He said election officials have until April 18 to count all the mail-in ballots before certifying races one week later on April 25.
