Still no sign of the missing absentee ballot in Morgan County.
That’s the word from Deputy County Clerk for Morgan County Dana Jokisch, who gave the update during the Morgan County Commissioner’s meeting this morning. Jokisch says the County Clerk will have to close and certify the election tomorrow with or without the ballot.
The aldermanic race for Jacksonville’s Ward 3 hangs in the balance as both the incumbent Brandon Adams and challenger W. Kent Hannant remain tied with 169 votes each. The lone absentee ballot came from Ward 3. Morgan County Clerk Jill Waggener said on Thursday, April 8th after verifying the absentee and write-in ballots that her office made contact with the voter who assured them they had mailed it in.
If the ballot does arrive, it also must be postmarked on or before election day, Tuesday, April 6th to officially count and break the tie in the race. If the ballot does not arrive or was postmarked late, the declaration of a winner comes down to a tiebreaker.
Illinois election code says a tiebreaker is determined “by lot” or random methods of selection such as a coin flip. Waggener said following the verification, if this happens with the Ward Three race, she will follow suit of several other county clerks and how they have broken ties by having the candidates come in and draw playing cards, with the one who draws the highest number being the winner.
Jokisch said during the meeting that Waggener has not set a time and date for the tiebreaker as of yet.