Ballots Impounded Amid Charges of Vote-Stealing : Chicago Council Election Ends in Chaos

An election that might have broken the once-powerful Chicago Democratic Machine’s half-century-long hold on City Hall ended chaotically Tuesday night with the future political control of the Windy City uncertain.

Some ballots in a key race were impounded by a state court, two races apparently were forced into runoffs and charges of vote-stealing were leveled despite the presence of the largest task force of federal agents ever to police an election in a Northern city.

At stake was whether control of Chicago’s 50-member City Council would shift from the Democratic Machine and its boss, Edward R. Vrdolyak, to Mayor Harold Washington.

Despite his election three years ago as the city’s first black chief executive, Washington has been thwarted in his efforts to pass legislation and appoint his choices to boards and commissions by the machine’s 29-vote white majority.

Incomplete results late Tuesday night showed candidates aligned with Vrdolyak winning in three wards. One candidate aligned with Washington appeared to be winning in another, with the outcome of the most hotly contested race likely to be decided in court. Two races appeared to be headed toward an April 29 runoff.

The election in seven of the city’s 50 council districts was ordered by a federal court that found that a redistricting of the city after the 1980 census deprived black and Latino majorities of council representation.

Currently all seven wards are represented by council members loyal to Vrdolyak. It was thought that the new district maps would result in the election of four Latino and three black aldermen, as City Council members are called in Chicago.

To maintain his control of the council, Vrdolyak would have to win either the court-challenged race or one of the two runoff elections. Otherwise, Washington, who can cast a tie-breaking vote in the case of a tie, would be in control.

A late-afternoon court order to keep some polling places open an extra two hours added an element of chaos to the special election.

Circuit Judge Joseph Schneider ordered 24 precincts kept open after the Washington camp complained that they opened late because of alleged errors by the Chicago Board of Elections.

“The machine controls the board of elections and they’re stealing votes,” Washington said.

That prompted Vrdolyak to send his lawyers into court objecting to the extra voting time, resulting in Schneider’s decision to impound ballots cast after 7 p.m. in the three districts where he extended voting hours.

‘Changing the Rules’

“We’re changing the rules of elections in a few heated (races),” an uncharacteristically angry Vrdolyak said. “The people who went to court were wrong, the judge was . . . wrong.”

Until the late-afternoon dispute over extending polling place hours, the day was relatively calm for a city that often resembles a banana republic on election days.

More than 100 assistant U.S. attorneys, FBI agents and U.S. marshals joined with more than 600 other state and county investigators to police the fiercely contested voting in the seven wards.

The mayor spent the day traveling around the city campaigning while Vrdolyak sent some of his best precinct captains to herd voters.

Rainy, gray weather did not impact significantly on voter turnout. Citywide, about 39% of those eligible turned out, with up to 75% of those registered going to the polls in the seven districts with special elections.

“It’s been very calm,” said Anton R. Valukas, U.S. attorney for the Northern District of Illinois.

In addition to the special City Council election, voters statewide cast ballots in a primary for state and county offices. Adlai E. Stevenson was chosen as the Democratic candidate for governor and will face incumbent Republican James R. Thompson in a rematch of their bitter 1982 contest--the closest statewide race in Illinois political history, with Thompson winning by a mere 5,000 votes.

Thompson was one of those who encountered trouble when he attempted to vote near his Chicago home Tuesday morning. When he got to the polls, there were no Republican ballots.

“I’ve heard of them trying to steal votes after elections, but I’ve never heard of them stealing ballots before elections,” the bemused governor said. He voted later in the day.

Staff writer Scott Kraft in Chicago contributed to this report.