District 211 write-in votes appear to fall short, but won’t be counted for two weeks

A pair of late-announced write-in candidates in the previously uncontested Palatine-Schaumburg High School District 211 board of education election appeared to fall short Tuesday.

However, the Cook County Clerk’s office won’t even begin to count votes for write-in candidates until after the April 15 deadline for mail ballots to return, Director of Communications Frank Herrera said.

That still allows the official certification to occur no later than April 22, he added.

Violetta Flis of Hanover Park and Natasha Mucci of Palatine met the late January declaration deadline to be considered valid write-in candidates.

But the votes counted for balloted candidates Anne Lopez of Hanover Park, Jane Russell of Rolling Meadows and former Schaumburg Township Elementary District 54 board member Kenneth Van Dyke of Roselle appeared enough the carry them to victory.

According to unofficial Cook County results Tuesday, Lopez had 14,906 votes, Russell 15,015, and Van Dyke 12,280.

With a total of 21,924 ballots cast by then, there were only 23,571 potential votes unaccounted for. If those were to be divided equally between the two write-in candidates, each would receive no more than 11,786 votes even if her name was adequately spelled.

None of the board members whose terms are ending sought reelection. Current president and 28-year incumbent Anna Klimkowicz, along with first-term members Curtis Bradley and Tim McGowan, will leave the board April 24.