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2018 sheriff’s race still not yet decided, but a resolution may now be on the horizon

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Illinois

The grinding vote by vote hand recount of the disputed Macon County sheriff’s election finished Tuesday, and now it looks certain a judge will have to decide who keeps or gets the sheriff’s job.

Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said he will announce the raw recount numbers Friday when he formally turns the results over to Champaign Circuit Court Judge Anna M. Benjamin. She will have to sort out dozens of disputed ballots where voters’ intentions weren’t clear in a race that saw Democratic Sheriff Tony Brown beat Republican rival Lt. Jim Root by just one vote: 19,655 to Root’s tally of 19,654 in the 2018 original contest.

Tanner wouldn’t comment on the number ahead of Friday’s formal announcement, but Root told the Herald & Review Wednesday evening that more than 1,300 ballots are not counted yet because they are in dispute.

“And yes, I am still confident the results are there for me,” he said. “I just need to get them in front of a judge for her to rule whether or not certain votes are going to be allowed.”

Read the whole thing. Just remember this come November.

posted by Rich Miller
Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:02 pm

Comments

Its never fun to be part of a hand recount in an election matter. I pity the County Clerk and their staff, in addition to the folks who are serving as the counters.

Comment by Just Another Anon Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:11 pm
Furthermore, Mr. Tanner had to take this on upon assuming the office. Serious on-the-job training and he appears to have handled himself with fairness and grace.

Comment by Token Conservative Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:25 pm
It’s amazing to realize that Howard Buffett (Warren’s son) served as Macon County Sheriff.

Comment by Downstate Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:31 pm
More than 3% of the ballots are in dispute, which seems very high. I assume they are mostly mail-ins?
If this becomes commonplace a whole lot of results could be delayed.

Comment by Anonanonsir Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:33 pm
Don’t ever say “My vote doesn’t count”.

Comment by JoanP Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 2:33 pm
Two years to determine the outcome of the upcoming November election sounds like one of my worst nightmares.

Comment by SAP Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 4:20 pm
“if this becomes commonplace a whole lot of results could be delayed”

Mail in voting will delay the announcement of winners up and down the ballot. Governors have said this in swing states already. This has occured in plenty of primaries already were the winner is officially announced a week after the election date (Amy McGrath). It’s going to be imperative that media outlets get the word out before November across the country and on election night media outlets need to be very careful announcing winners.

Comment by 1st Ward Thursday, Jul 23, 20 @ 5:04 pm