After losing assessor’s race amid ballot confusion, Raila wants court action

One month after the roller coaster race for Cook County Assessor, candidate Andrea Raila said she’s not interested in a do-over of the election that had her on-and-off the ballot for weeks leading up to the primary.

But she is taking legal action — and vowing more.

“I think there’s a sigh of relief from voters and other candidates that we’re not going to challenge the election. We’re not going to try for a re-do,” said Raila. “But we are being proactive to try to establish our rights to have voter choice and make sure that every vote counts.”

Raila wants the Chicago Board of Elections and Cook County Clerk David Orr to be held in contempt of court — and on Friday she filed a motion to that effect with the Illinois Appellate Court.

“They did not carry out their duties, they were derelict in their duties, we feel strongly that they were in contempt of court,” Raila said on Friday.

Raila also said she plans to file a federal civil rights suit next week, alleging voters were denied the right to cast their votes effectively.

“This will help the process of future elections. I don’t want another candidate to go through with what I went through,” Raila said.

The county electoral board initially removed her from the ballot based on findings of fraud in her nominating petitions. That decision was upheld until the Illinois Appellate Court reversed the decision the last week before the March primary.

Then, on Election Day, some election officials mistakenly passed out green-and-white notices alerting voters that Raila was disqualified, so any votes for her would not count. When all votes were in, Fritz Kaegi beat incumbent Joe Berrios with 47 percent of the vote. Berrios received 32 percent of the vote, and Raila came in third with 21 percent.

Jim Allen, a spokesman for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said before the polls opened, a pre-programmed reminder was sent out telling officials to hand out the notices, and that the board had “forgotten about that completely.” After the board realized what happened, he said it “sent out six different text messages saying, ‘Do not hand out the green and white notices.’”

Nick Shields, a spokesman for Orr, said: “We want to assure voters in Suburban Cook County that we are confident the election was properly administered and that we followed the courts’ orders.”

READ MORE:

• Berrios concedes in topsy-turvy assessor’s race

• Is assessor candidate Andrea Raila off the ballot? Yes and no

• Joe Berrios rival Andrea Raila back on assessor ballot

• Berrios challenger loses another round in ballot battle

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