In the race for Illinois State Treasurer, Republican Tom Cross' lead widened ever so slightly Tuesday over Democrat Mike Frerichs. But that 500 vote advantage is microscopic, when compared to the 3.3 million votes cast.
A week after Election Day, ballots across Illinois still need to be counted in what might become the closest race in Illinois history. The candidates are currently split by one-one-thousandth of a percentage point.
Dozens of volunteers from both campaigns have been stationed for days at the Cook County Clerk's office, where they watch officials counting ballots from the suburban areas of the county. It's in suburban Cook where the Cross campaign alleges some voters cast more than one provisional ballot before Election Day. Cross' campaign manager, Kevin Artl, says their office found repeated voters from data provided by the County Clerk.
"We look forward to working with them, making sure that each person only gets one vote."
But the County Clerk calls this accusation "irresponsible" and says the Cross campaign is "confused."
Over at the Frerichs' camp, spokesman Dave Clarkin says they've been riding out the counting period, and says he doesn't want to discount ballots yet to be counted downstate.
"We don't want clerks to feel like they're being rushed, we want to make sure that those ballots are being counted accurately."
Both campaigns say they're looking forward to more solid results by November 18.
