Ebb turns to slow for O'Neill Burke, whose thinning lead thickens ever so slightly

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Eileen O’Neill Burke’s lead over Clayton Harris III in the Democratic primary for Cook County state’s attorney grew slightly Wednesday after a week of steady shrinking, but the ever so tight contest remains unresolved.

The latest batches of mail-in ballots tabulated by city and suburban election officials show O’Neill Burke leading Harris by 1,637 votes, a slight increase from Tuesday, when the two were separated by 1,598 votes.

Based on the unofficial results, O’Neill Burke, a retired appellate court justice, now leads Harris, a university lecturer, 50.16% to 49.84%. That margin is only a hundredths of a percentage point different from Tuesday’s.

The campaigns are in somewhat of a holding pattern as the methodical counting of mail-in votes continues now more than a week after polls closed on March 19. Election officials have said the counting will continue until the April 2 deadline to certify a winner.

Both campaigns have indicated they are prepared for a range of outcomes, which Harris’ team has said include a potential recount. State law doesn’t allow automatic recounts. If the current margin holds, Harris would have to request one and his campaign would be responsible for paying for it.

“Given the evolving dynamics in this race since Election Day, it is important to wait and ensure every vote is counted through the April 2 deadline,” a spokesperson for the Harris campaign said on Wednesday.

That came after the Cook County clerk’s office said it tallied 255 mail ballots on Wednesday, while the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners said it processed just over 2,800.

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Provisional ballots will be processed on Thursday, according to city election officials, who earlier this week issued a correction on those numbers.

Provisional ballots are those cast when a voter’s registration information is not available when they show up to vote, or their eligibility is otherwise in doubt. Provisional ballots are only counted if the voter’s eligibility is eventually verified.

A Chicago Board of Election Commissioners staff member initially logged the incorrect number of provisional ballots received on election day, reporting 2,882 ballots instead of 1,882, officials said Monday. Staff performed a hand count and determined there were 1,991 provisional ballots from election day and early voting.

Another correction was issued Saturday when city election officials announced that roughly 10,000 votes were added to the unofficial count. Max Bever, spokesperson for the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners, said in a statement that he had mistakenly left out ballots received by mail on the evening of March 18, a day before the primary, in previous totals.

Ashlee Rezin/Sun-Times

Both campaigns have had poll watchers present during subsequent vote tallying.

Neither candidate has declared victory, nor conceded defeat. They are vying to succeed Cook County state’s attorney Kim Foxx, who decided not seek a third term.

The winner of the Democratic primary will face Republican former Ald. Bob Fioretti and Libertarian Andrew Charles Kopinski in November.

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