Brady holds out hope absentee ballots will narrow gap on Quinn

Posted by David Heinzmann and David Kidwell at 9:10 a.m.


Republican Bill Brady and key advisers are huddling this morning in a Bloomington hotel to examine what the chances are of Brady making up the difference on Democratic Gov. Pat Quinn in a close race with thousands of ballots still to be counted from Tuesday's election.

Brady was expected to make a statement on the race at 10:30 a.m.

With 99 percent of the votes from Tuesday counted, Quinn was up by more than 8,000 votes in unofficial results. It was enough for the governor to proclaim a near-victory last night, while Brady is holding out hope he can make up the difference somehow.

The key isn't expected to be the votes cast Tuesday however, but rather the thousands of absentee ballots cast in recent days and not yet counted by election officials. It is typical for some absentee ballots to not be counted until after the election, so officials can make sure those people didn't also vote on Election Day.

Cook County and Chicago officials say they will not even count the outstanding absentee ballots today -- there are nearly 15,000. Rather they will spend hours on the laborious task of ensuring the ballots are valid. Counting would not start until Thursday at the earliest.

Last night, Brady and other Republicans said the absentee ballots around the state, along with provisional ballots and votes cast by military members overseas, could make the difference.

But the outstanding ballots in Chicago and Cook County are not likely to break in Brady's favor.

That's what Republicans are trying to figure out this morning -- how many of such ballots are out there, and if they come from areas where Brady has an expectation of picking up substantial numbers.



http://newsblogs.chicagotribune.com/clout_st/2010/11/absentee-ballots-governor-quinn-brady.html