A DuPage County circuit judge has ordered a full recount of the November county auditor’s race in which Bill White ousted incumbent Bob Grogan by 75 votes.
Judge Craig Belford said the partial vote recount requested by Grogan after the election found 436 ballots in a Downers Grove Township polling place were not initialed, which violates state statutes and is sufficient evidence to justify a recount.
If the 436 ballots were removed, Republican Grogan would gain 82 votes, edging out Democrat White by a margin of seven votes.
“During such recount … any in-precinct ballot that is not initialed shall be deemed defective and not counted,” Belford wrote in his decision.
The Illinois Supreme Court has upheld similar rulings in the past, he noted.
Grogan said he thought the points he cited in his request for a full recount were legitimate.
“The way I operate is I wouldn’t put forward something that’s strictly speculative and conspiracy,” Grogan said. “We’ve looked into it, we found numerous issues, and at minimum found some mistakes.”
A court hearing is scheduled for next week. White can appeal the judge’s ruling but has not decided if he will, he said.
“The time to decide hasn’t arrived yet. You can’t appeal it immediately,” White said.
If the recount proceeds, Grogan said he did not know when it would begin or how long it might take.
“Unfortunately, this could take a while,” he said.
In a post on his Facebook page, Grogan said he believes this is the first time a full recount has been ordered in a DuPage County election.
“We found hundreds of ballots that contained no election judges’ initials, which invalidates them. Not addressed in this ruling, but we will certainly be looking into why there are +1,600 more ballots than people who voted,” he wrote.
The partial recount checked only one-quarter of DuPage’s 930 precincts. Grogan acknowledged a full recount of all ballots and precincts could give him a victory or widen White’s margin.
“When you look at the other three-quarters, mistakes could go both ways,” he said.
Belford noted in his ruling that White and the county clerk believe even if the ballots were not initialed, they should be counted because an election judge’s initials were recorded on an electronic poll pad at the time ballots were given to voters.
White said Grogan’s legal argument for the recount is based on a clerical technicality and no fraud was involved.
“What may end up happening is he ends up losing more votes,” White said. “But even if that occurs, I still believe as a matter of public policy these votes should be counted.”
White, who was sworn in as county auditor in December, said the pending recount will have no effect on the operations of his office.
raguerrero@tribpub.com
