Last November, Republican Jerry Weller was certified the winner in Illinois` 85th House District, having defeated Democratic incumbent Ray Christensen by just 4 votes. It was one of the closest tallies in Illinois history. With more than 28,000 votes cast in the district, Mr. Weller`s margin of victory was approximately .000142 percent, barely visible to the naked eye. Mr. Christensen challenged this count. His fellow Democrats on the House Elections Committee have upheld his challenge, evidently feeling that a Republican needs a margin bigger than 4 votes to win. In judging which disputed ballots were valid and which not, they used their 6-to-4 majority to put Mr. Christensen ahead.
According to GOP committee members and neutral observers alike, it was simple enough, even though preliminary recounts had increased Mr. Weller`s lead to 8 votes. The Democrats just kept throwing out doubtful ballots for him and counting those for Mr. Christensen until their man came out 3 votes ahead. A stain on a Weller ballot, for example, disqualified it; a similar stain on a Christensen one was acceptable. Eventually Republicans stormed out of the meeting, describing it in terms like ”rape” and ”kangaroo court.”
The full House, where Democrats hold a 67-51 majority, is to vote on the disputed seat Thursday. Mr. Weller has threatened to sue if he loses his seat, but it is not really a matter for a court; normally, a legislative chamber has the right to decide such contested elections.
The intriguing question is what all the maneuvering is for. As a legislator, Mr. Christensen has not made much difference to anyone, and the Democrats will have an overpowering majority with or without his seat.
Either the 85th District seat has some hidden importance for the House Democrats, or making an honest judgment about whom the voters have chosen has no importance to them at all. It would be nice to know which.
