The Chicago Board of Elections reports that 7,791 ballots were cast in the 49th Ward Aldermanic Runoff Election on Tuesday, April 17. The preliminary results show that only 247 votes determined the outcome of the election. A large number of allegations of voting irregularities have been raised which challenge the integrity of our election process. During the next few days we will be documenting these, but first allow me to clear the air of confusion that has been swirling about since the election.
We are considering mounting a challenge to contest the results of the runoff election. However, we need more data in order to determine whether this should be done. We have issued a Freedom of Information Act request to the Chicago Board of Elections to obtain the list of nearly 8,000 voters who came out to vote. Once we have that data we will be able to compare this to our list of nearly 2,000 potentially invalid voters, which were gleaned from the total of over 20,000 registered voters in the 49th ward. This will tell us how many voters went to the polls and cast an invalid vote.
Now, you might ask, why are we doing this after the election rather than on Election Day. Unfortunately, the poll judges were denying most of the poll-watchers’ requests on Election Day to have suspect votes made provisional. This widespread denial raises concerns that a statistically significant number of votes cast yesterday may be invalid. If they are, then the final results are inaccurate and as voters we will have been denied a fair and honest election. We will update you as soon as we have more information.
Many of you have called, emailed, and walked into our campaign office today to wish me well and express your desire that we move forward with this challenge. Please understand that we do not want to frivolously contest an election, so we want to be absolutely certain that we have all the facts before we proceed. I also want all of you to know that I appreciate the support you have given to me over the past year and regardless of the final outcome, I know we have won a victory for integrity and honesty.
Sincerely,
Don Gordon
Democratic Candidate for 49th Ward Alderman
4 comments:
I don't think it's quite so fair to say that "247 votes determined the outcome of the election."
Actually, it was 7,791 who determined the outcome of the election, 4,019 of whom voted for Joe Moore, and 3,772 of whom voted for Don Gordon. It's almost like saying the 3,772 who voted don't count. That's kind of insulting.
Sore Loser.
Show me a good loser and I'll show you a loser.
Don wasn't insulting his voters, his point was that a small number made the decision...and it is worth looking into.
My only concern is that it was a fair and clean election. If indeed a good number of questionable votes counted, then let us verify their legitimacy, that's all.
If Moore continues to be an absentee alderman like Dorothy Tillman, we'll get him out next time.
If he can find a way to actually work his job and find a way to partner with Daley like even Helen Schiller did, then he can keep his job.
Yesterdays voting reminded me back when Helen needed to cart in people with Slim Coleman's help to keep her job in the early nineties. She found a way to adapt, I'm waiting for Joe to wake up, he used to be a progressive, now he's just a goon.
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