 One day after Brady again finished within a percentage point of his
opponent -- this time Democratic governor Pat Quinn -- the GOP
hopeful from Bloomington said he wants to count each vote and let
the process unfold."The people of Illinois have cast over 3.6
million votes in this election," Brady said. "Right now the
difference is less than one vote per precinct. We must allow the
election authorities to do their job and wait for the official
results."
The Illinois State Board of Elections has given all counties
until Nov. 16 to count those overseas ballots. Because of a delay in
sending out some of the ballots, six counties have until Nov. 17. It
will then take state officials another few days to certify and
finalize the vote total.
Brady said he's expecting to wait at least a month.
"The state board allows a minimum of 20 days for local officials
to certify (the vote total) and a minimum of 10 days for them to
certify. Realistically we're think we're looking at a 30-day
process," he said.
Brady is trailing Quinn by close just over 8,000 votes. There are
scattered reports of some precincts that have yet to count their
ballots, and there is much talk about overseas and military ballots.
But it is unclear if there are enough uncounted votes for Brady to
overtake Quinn.
Brady said that from what he's been told, there may be.
"We believe, based on what we've been given, (that) we will win.
And it's important that we let (the review) process take place. We
are certainly going to respect Gov. Quinn, and I'm sure that he
wants the same process to take place."
[to top of second column] |
The Quinn campaign said in a written statement that the governor
also wants every vote counted.
"The ballots left to be counted appear mostly to come from Cook
County, where the governor held a large margin over Sen. Brady."
said Mica Matsoff, campaign spokeswoman. "We expect to hold our lead
and increase it. We do not see a path to victory for Bill Brady."
Close races and counting all of the ballots is becoming a habit
for Brady. He barely won the Republican primary in February, edging
out GOP state Sen. Kirk Dillard of Hinsdale by less than 200 votes.
Brady also won a recount in one of his first races back in 1992.
Quinn also had a squeaker in the February primary. But his
opponent, Democratic Comptroller Dan Hynes, conceded rather than
push for a lengthy review and vote count.
[Illinois
Statehouse News; By BENJAMIN YOUNT]
 |
