Illinois – Democratic Illinois Governor Pat Quinn is holding onto his slim lead over Republican challenger Bill Brady as votes continue to be counted in their extremely tight race.
With 99% of precincts reporting, Quinn's lead is just more than 9,700. At a Wednesday morning news conference, Brady said that's not very much.
"Our campaign continues to wait for the results from the local officials. The people of Illinois have cast over 3.6 million votes in this election. As of right now, the difference is less than one vote per precinct," Brady said.
Brady said he wants all the votes counted, including absentee ballots from military members serving out of state. That could take a month.
16,500 ballots were requested overseas.
The Quinn campaign also wants all the votes counted but doubts Brady can win. Quinn campaign workers say the ballots left to be counted appear mostly to come from Cook County, where the governor held a large margin over Brady.
Burt Odelson, the attorney for Quinn's campaign, said Tuesday night that he will monitor the incoming figures. But he thinks the contest will end with his candidate on top.
"There are not enough votes downstate to make up the difference between what's left in Cook County and what's left downstate. So Pat Quinn's going to win the election," said Odelson.
Once all votes are counted, the State Board of Elections must certify the results.
At that point, the loser can ask for a discovery recount. That enables him to check more than a quarter of the ballots in each jurisdiction. If the candidate believes it's warranted, he may contest the election.
Complicating the matter is the fact that several counties sent out their overseas ballots late. Some Republicans are calling for an investigation into the delays.
Rupert Borgsmiller of the Illinois State Board of Elections said no matter what happens, no vote postmarked after November 1 will be counted.