Dist. 220 seat rests on one vote

On the official last day of absentee ballot counting Tuesday, Barrington Unit District 220 school candidate Richard Burkhart held a lead of just one vote in the race for the third and final seat on the board of education.

Though all four counties in the school district reported final and complete vote tallies online, the Lake County Clerk’s office won’t canvass the results until Wednesday.

Canvassing could lead to a different vote count, said Cook County Clerk’s spokeswoman Courtney Greve, whose office already has completed its canvassing process.

With only one vote separating Burkhart from candidate Tom Antoine, a winner won’t be officially proclaimed until results are certified April 26, Greve said.

As of Tuesday, Burkhart had 2,421 votes to Antoine’s 2,420.

Burkhart wasn’t ready to claim victory Tuesday because of the lingering uncertainty, but he did recognize some humor in the situation.

“I told my supporters I wanted to run as a fiscal conservative,” Burkhart said. “If you end up winning by only one vote, you can’t get much more conservative than that.”

He also joked that the outcome proved the adage that you should always vote for yourself.

Antoine could not be reached for comment Tuesday.

Current board President Brian Battle, with 2,776 votes, and newcomer Joseph Ruffolo, with 2,642, claimed first and second place in the April 5 election.

Lake County will be the lead agency in certifying the results for the school district because it’s the county where the district is headquartered.

Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham said his county still had 40 absentee votes to count Tuesday afternoon, but that none were from District 220.