Posted by Rick Pearson at 5:30 a.m.
Local election officials face a deadline today to submit their Feb. 2 primary vote totals to the state, amid increasing pessimism from state Sen. Kirk Dillard about his chances of overcoming the narrow lead held by his Republican rival for governor.
State Sen. Bill Brady of Bloomington has been ahead of Dillard by a few hundred ballots as county clerks and local election boards finalize their counting in preparation for the State Board of Elections certifying the results on March 5.
Dillard, a Hinsdale lawmaker, said he wants state election authorities to issue a final number in the contest and has set a bar of being behind by 100 votes or less as a trigger for proceeding with an expensive recount.
The numbers being forwarded to Springfield by local election officials are supposed to have been double checked through a canvassing of local precinct results. Dillard said he still is hoping there was a small error somewhere that could change the outcome of a statewide election involving more than three-quarters of a million ballots. “One little error changes everything,” he said.
But in speaking with local election officials, Dillard said, “I have no hint of fraud, no hint of improprieties” in the results.
Lacking clear evidence of success, Dillard said he doesn’t want a recount that could cost him more than $1 million and potentially delay the start of the Republican campaign against Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn. Quinn’s ticket remains unsettled by the flap that led to his embattled running mate, Scott Lee Cohen, dropping from the ballot.
“I’d prefer to say up or down before” the March 5 date on which the state board certifies the results, Dillard said. But he said he does not expect to make a final decision today.