With Illinois House race still too close to call, GOP candidate sues DuPage County clerk over ballot counting
CHICAGO (CBS) -- It has been a week since the election, but there is still a race in Illinois that are too close to call.
The race is for the 45th District Illinois State House seat in the western suburbs. Mail-in ballots are still being counted, and on Tuesday, a judge ruled the office of DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek has to change the way they count mail-in ballots after one of the candidates filed a lawsuit.
As CBS 2's Charlie De Mar reported, the Republican incumbent, Rep. Deanne Mazzochi (R-Elmhurst) accused the clerk of not following the law - and being sloppy in the way mail-in ballots are being counted.
De Mar asked Mazzochi if she was questioning the integrity of the election and the ballot-counting process.
"Certainly, we and other poll watchers did witness that the clerk's office was not following the statute as we understood it, and went to court today - and the court vindicated our interpretation," Mazzochi said.
At last check in her race for reelection, Mazzochi is trailing her opponent, Democrat Jenn Ladisch Douglass, by less than 250 votes.
"All we're simply asking for in the lawsuit is that the DuPage County Clerk's office actually follow the law," Mazzochi said.
In a lawsuit just filed, Mazzochi accuses the DuPage County Clerk of improperly verifying mail-in ballot signatures.
On Tuesday, DuPage County Judge James Orel sided with Mazzochi -- ordering the Clerk's office to change their ballot counting methods.
"All of the vote-by-mail ballots that are coming into the county complex – that those vote by mail ballots have to actually have their signatures checked against a real verified signature associated with a registered voter," Mazzochi said. "They can't be validated in connection with vote-by-mail applications."
Stephen Maynard Caliendo is the dean of arts and sciences and a professor of political science at North Central College.
"When we tell students that every vote matters, this is kind of what we are talking about," Caliendo said.
He agrees with the judge's ruling, but disputes the claims made in the suit that "mail-in ballots present high risks of voter fraud." Caliendo says that claim represents a false narrative he says was amplified in the 2020 presidential election.
"I'm worried about the narrative that mail-in voting is more likely to have fraud than in-person voting," Caliendo said. "I don't think there's any evidence for that. I think it's dangerous to continue that narrative."
Challenger Ladisch Douglass declined to comment on the lawsuit. But the day after the election, she posted to Facebook in part:
"I have heard reports that supporters of my opponent are trying to disrupt the DuPage County Clerk's office while they do their very important work of counting every properly cast vote."
De Mar asked Mazzochi if she would accept the outcome of the election, whatever it turns out to be. She did not have a direct answer to the question.
"Again, this is one of those instances everyone has the right to have legal ballots count, and everyone has a right to have illegal ballots not count," Mazzochi replied, "and where we are right now is we are still in the process of counting ballots."
Ladisch Douglass, again, declined to comment. DuPage County Clerk Kaczmarek did not return our repeated attempts for comment.
Another race had also been too close to call as of earlier Tuesday. But late Tuesday night, Republican Patrick Sheehan conceded to Democratic incumbent Michael Hastings in the 19th State Senate District in the southwest suburbs.
