Candidate Remains On Cook County Ballot But Her Votes Won't Count

CHICAGO, IL — Cook County courts and election officials have approved a plan to include a disqualified candidate's name on the upcoming Democratic primary ballot. Tuesday, a judge agreed with an electoral board's decision to remove Andrea Raila from the ballot. But Circuit Judge Robert Bertucci rejected a request from one of Raila's rivals to have her name removed from ballots.

Despite the ruling last month from the Cook County Electoral Board that found a "pattern of fraud" in the signatures on her nominating petition, the Chicago Board of Election Commissioners decided to put her name on the ballot anyway. They told the judge it is now too late to change.

Election officials plan to place legal notices in newspapers and printed notices in polling places informing voters that votes for Raila will not be counted, according to the Chicago-Sun Times. They also offered to pay for commercials to be broadcast to let people know the ballot contains the name of a ineligible – for now, at least – candidate.

An attorney for Fritz Kaegi, who is challenging incumbent assessor Joe Berrios, asked the judge to order that the third name in the race be removed from the ballot.

County election officials asserted they were unable to properly count votes if they were to reprogram electronic voting machines to take Raila's name off, so the judge decided to go ahead with a plan to keep three names on the ballot but only count votes for two of them.

"It's not a perfect world," he said, according to the Sun-Times.

Raila's attorney, Frank Avila, promised to appeal the judge's ruling, according to the Chicago Tribune.

Berrios, who is also the chair of the Cook County Democratic Party, is believed to be more likely to keep his post with two other candidates on the ballot. A spokesperson for his office reportedly (and allegedly completely independently) attempted to convince the objector to Raila's petitions to withdraw the challenge that led to her removal.

The assessor's office under Berrios has faced increased scrutiny following investigations by the Chicago Tribune, ProPublica Illinois and an independent study from the Civic Consulting Alliance found vast disparities in the system favoring rich property owners and overcharging homeowners in poorer communities.

Related:

• Electoral Board Sets Stage For 2-Way Cook County Assessor's Race
• Gov. Rauner Calls Cook County Tax System 'Immoral'
• Cook County Assessments Favor Wealthy At Poor's Expense: Study