Oberweis, Rickert, Ward vote recount covers thousands of mail-in paper ballots

GENEVA – The discovery recount for Nov. 3's losing candidates Jim Oberweis, David Rickert and Jeanette Ward is expected to go until late Wednesday or Thursday, as Kane County Clerk employees are required to hold up every mail-in paper ballot from 119 precincts to show their fronts and backs to campaign representatives.

The first part of the recount on Tuesday morning was the easy part, Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said, as the computer counted the digital ballots.

“It was like watching paint dry,” Cunningham said.

Representatives of the Republican candidates who lost, as well as the Democrats who won – U.S. Rep. Lauren Underwood, D-Naperville, Kane County Board Chair Corinne Pieorg and State Sen. Karina Villa, D-Warrenville – and those of Kane County Democrats all participated in observing the recount.

Oberweis filed for a discovery recount in all seven counties in the 14th Congressional District.

Though Oberweis campaign attorney John Wise would not state what he had requested of Cunningham's employees, others at the recount said he asked that campaign workers be allowed to see both sides of each paper ballot.

After a brief delay Deputy Clerk John Duggan said they would allow it.

“We do want to get this done while we’re still young,” Duggan said. “We will extend the time … at the cost of the county, but we will let you do that. You can take whatever challenge you want. You can take whatever tallies you want.”

Two election judges each stood at three tables – one for each of the contesting candidates’ races – began pulling paper ballots out of boxes.

They held the ballots up one side, then another, one at a time, while representatives of each side sat at a table in front of them, marking their own individual tallies down.

Party and campaign representatives are not allowed to touch the ballots, officials said.

While discovery recount is pretty routine in close races or close referendums – this is a first involving thousands of mailed-in paper ballots, Cunningham said.

Duggan said the Oberweis, Rickert and Ward observers were apparently looking for mutilated ballots or other spoiled ballots that should have been discarded.

“I haven’t seen a single ballot with a mutilation,” Duggan said. “It’s a very tedious process, but by state statute, we have to do it.”

While the recount cost is $10 per precinct to the losing candidates requesting the recount, Cunningham estimated the department’s cost at $250 an hour for all the employees’ time.

Director of Elections Raymond Esquivel estimated at this rate, the discovery recount would take the rest of Tuesday afternoon and be completed either by Wednesday or Thursday.

One of the judges could be heard speaking behind her mask, “I’d like to be home for Christmas.”

Each petition seeking the discovery recount stated that the losing candidates’ votes equal to at least 95% of the votes received by the winning candidate, thereby legally justifying the recount.

None of what the losing candidates will find would change the results of the election, Duggan said, but if they find enough mutilated or spoiled ballots that should be disqualified, it would give them enough information to contest the results in court.