The Cook County state’s attorney hopeful with progressive views has significantly narrowed the margin in the primary election following the sudden appearance of over 10,000 votes in Chicago.
The Chicago Board of Elections announced an increase of over 10,000 votes on Saturday, attributing the oversight to director Max Bever’s admission that mail-in votes had been inadvertently omitted from the initial count.
“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,” Bever said, according to WBBM-TV
“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,” Bever claimed.
The office reported an increase of 368,990 ballots after the new votes were included, resulting in a citywide turnout of 24.44%. Cook County has a total of 1,509,554 registered voters. At present, Eileen O’Neill Burke is leading Clayton Harris III by a narrow margin of 4,771 votes.
However, Harris, the “progressive” candidate supported by the Democratic party, has been steadily narrowing the lead. Harris also has the endorsement of various unions and the Cook County Democratic Party chairman. On the other hand, O’Neill Burke has focused her campaign on being tougher on crime in a city grappling with a rising crime rate.
O’Neill Burke previously said, “We have people in business leaving every day because of crime; make no mistake about it, the economic viability of Chicago is on the ballot this year.”
O’Neill Burke holds a fundraising edge as reported by the Associated Press prior to the election. Given the Democrats’ voter registration advantage in the region, the victor of the Democratic primary is expected to secure the position of the state’s attorney in the upcoming November election.
The race aims to fill the vacancy left by Kim Foxx, the Cook County States Attorney who was backed by George Soros and decided not to seek reelection following backlash over her lenient approach to crime.
