Mazzochi Awaiting Court Ruling on Mail-In Ballots
Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) trails Democrat Jenn Ladisch Douglass by 343 votes, but is awaiting a court ruling on disputed signature verifications in DuPage County.
When the legal deadline for counting late-arriving mail-in ballots passed last Tuesday, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) trailed Democratic challenger Jenn Ladisch Douglass by 343 votes.
But, it appears the race is far from over.
Mazzochi says she is waiting for a 3rd District Appellate Court ruling on a temporary restraining order approved by a circuit judge and upheld by the Supreme Court while it awaited an Appellate Court ruling.
Mazzochi alleges DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek was verifying signatures on mail-in ballot envelopes with the signatures on their application for the ballot, instead of the usual method of verifying signatures based on voter registrations.
Reached last night, Mazzochi told me she is awaiting the Appellate Court ruling for more direction on outstanding ballots and is beginning the process for asking for a discovery recount, the first step in asking a judge for a full recount.
Kaczmarek has not returned messages from The Illinoize.
The circuit court ruling required the DuPage Clerk to set aside disputed ballots, but Mazzochi says it isn’t clear how many are actually uncounted. She said her data shows around 1,200 mail-in ballots in her district that are marked as “unreturned.”
Mazzochi says she isn’t disputing whether she won the election or not, but says she believes the count needs to be conducted correctly.
“This is not a question of win or loss, this is a question of the Clerk following the law,” Mazzochi said. “It is not a question of doubting the outcome of the election. It is about why the Clerk didn’t follow the law.”
An Appellate Court decision is expected in the next week or two. Meanwhile, it isn’t clear if the State Board of Elections will certify the race when it meets next Monday.
