December 26, 2024
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Will County results same after last vote count

More mail-in votess and provisional ballots were counted Tuesday

By Bob Okon
Election 2024
Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry leads an oath before the counting of mail in ballots on Tuesday at the Will County Office Building.

Will County Clerk Lauren Staley Ferry leads an oath before the count of more than 6,000 mail-in ballots on Nov. 15. (Gary Middendorf - gmiddendorf@shawmedia.com/Gary Middendorf)

Another 683 votes were counted Tuesday without changing the outcome of close Will County races.

The final count of late-arriving mail-in ballots and provisional votes was small compared to a week ago when 6,474 ballots that had not arrived by the Sunday before the Nov. 8 election were counted.

The Nov. 15 count changed the outcome of three close races, favoring Democrats, who typically enjoy lopsided advantages in mail-in votes, who reversed Election Night deficits in races for sheriff, treasurer and a circuit judge seat. They expanded those leads by a small margin after the vote count on Tuesday.

Sheriff Mike Kelley and Treasurer Tim Brophy maintained their apparent victories, and Associate Judge Jessica Colon-Sayre kept her lead in the contest for circuit judge.

The Nov. 8 election will be certified next week in a final canvass that makes the results official. After the Nov. 29 canvass, candidates have five days to seek a recount.

Raj Pillai, the Republican candidate for county treasurer, issued a statement Tuesday saying he was being urged to seek a recount with less than a 1% margin of difference in his race against Brophy.

“However, history has shown a recount would not move enough votes to change the outcome in my election, and as a true fiscal conservative I would never selfishly waste taxpayer resources to comfort my own ego,.” Pillai said in the statement. “I accept the results of this election.”

Republican sheriff candidate Jim Reilly acknowledged defeat last week.

Joliet attorney Bob Bodach could not be reached to comment whether he would consider a recount in the circuit judge race against Colon-Sayre, the closest of the three. Bodach is down by 1,525 votes, a 0.68% margin of difference.