DuPage County Clerk Jean Kaczmarek’s office recently completed four discovery recounts for the Nov. 3, 2020 General Election and found nothing that would suggest a change in the outcome certified at the conclusion of the election. Petitions for four discovery recounts were requested by candidates Jim Oberweis for U.S. 14th Congressional District, Jeanette Ward for Illinois 25th Senate District, Bob Grogan for Office of DuPage County Auditor, and Tim Whelan for DuPage County Forest Preserve Commission District 4.
“I am confident of the results of the recounts, just as I am confident of the results that were certified last month,” Kaczmarek stated.
Altogether, ballots from 286 precincts were recounted out of a total of 930 precincts. DuPage County had record turnout of 491,067 voters in the Nov. 3rd election. The discovery recounts were made in addition to a state-mandated retabulation last month of 47 precincts, which found no changes to unofficial totals prior to certification.
Discovery recounts following this election were unprecedented in DuPage County in terms of the volume of ballots recounted including hand recounts of three precincts, the front and back observation of each paper ballot, the recount duration of several weeks, and the access of election records for review and transparency – all during challenging pandemic conditions. The estimated cost to the County to conduct the four recounts, including staff salaries, exceeds $100,000. A candidate is charged $10 per precinct for a discovery recount.
Discovery recounts began on Monday, Dec. 7 with teams of Republican and Democratic election judges working with numerous poll watchers, candidates and their representatives, and County Clerk staff in the auditorium of the County’s Administrative Building in Wheaton. The discovery recounts concluded within nine days, followed by carrying out requests through Wednesday, Dec. 23 of further candidate review with staff of additional election records.
“I thank all the election judges who served on these recounts especially during a pandemic,” Kaczmarek added. “I’m proud of my staff who worked to fulfill all the recounts, after completing an exhausting 2020 election cycle overlapping into the 2021 consolidated election.”
