Stern files recount suit

John Flynn Rooney reports in this evening's Chicago Daily Law Bulletin that 5th Subcircuit judicial candidate Stephen Stern filed suit Monday seeking to force a full recount in his race.

According to the results certified earlier this month by the Illinois State Board of Elections, Dominique C. Ross received 27,682 votes to Stern's 27,573 -- a margin of only 109 votes. In his suit, Stern claims that a discovery recount identified sufficient errors and irregularities to justify the full recount. According to Rooney's article, Stern's suit estimates "that after a full recount is concluded, Stern would lose about 40 votes, while Ross would lose approximately 200 votes." That would give Stern a 57 vote margin of victory.

Stern and Ross are both solo practitioners with offices in Chicago. Stern, a former President of the Cook County Bar Association, was found qualified or recommended by every bar association; Ross did not participate in bar association evaluations.

Rooney's article also reports that Paula M. Lingo has decided not to seek a recount in her countywide judicial race against Kristyna C. Ryan. According to State Board of Elections results, Ryan received a total of 302,347 votes, only 1,522 votes more than the 300,825 votes that Lingo received.