Vito files lawsuit challenging outcome in Wheeling board race
Wheeling Trustee Joe Vito filed a formal contest Thursday, urging a Cook County judge to reverse the outcome of the April 7 election and declare him the winner of a seat on the village board.
Vito, an attorney for an insurance firm, is representing himself in the complaint against the Cook County Clerk's Office. It comes four days before his opponent Mary Papantos - the official winner of the Wheeling village board seat by just 26 votes - is sworn onto the board Monday.
Papantos, whose name was on the ballot, got 884 votes. Vito, a write-in candidate, has 858 counted votes, according to the clerk's office.
In the 12-page complaint, Vito challenges 34 write-in ballots declared invalid by the county. Cook County Clerk David Orr's failure to count the ballots amounts to "unlawful disenfranchisement," it states.
Vito is asking a judge to order the 34 ballots be counted - which would give him an win over Papantos by eight votes.
In 33 of the 34 disputed ballots, voters wrote his name on the ballot, but didn't fill in a corresponding arrow, preventing optical scanners from detecting the votes for him.
The clerk's office has said that based on state law and legal precedent, it doesn't have the discretion to count those ballots.
Vito, however, says it's obvious those 33 voters intended to vote for him because they wrote his name on the ballot. The petition also cites Illinois Supreme Court rulings to support his claims.
"I feel confident in that argument. I don't want to be knocked out a technicality," he said Thursday.
On the 34th write-in ballot a voter wrote "Joe Vogel," and also voted for the other candidates on his slate, Ray Lang and Dave Vogel.
Vito argues that voter intended to vote for him by writing his first name and because "Vogel and "Vito" might sound similar.
An election judge originally counted that vote for Vito, but a clerk's office employee struck it during a canvass of the results April 14, according to the complaint.
Papantos said Vito is "extending (the election) past what it should be," but added, "that's his right."
She said she's focused on preparing for the swearing-in, 6:30 p.m. Monday at village hall, and meeting with department heads.
The village is legally obligated to swear in Papantos, unless a judge says otherwise, Village Attorney Jim Ferolo said this week.
Vito has filed a motion to hold a hearing on the case May 8.
"It's been nothing but a series of peaks and valleys and highs and lows," he said of the election. "And I hope I end on a high note."
If Vito succeeds, the slate of trustees endorsed by Village President Dean Argiris would secure a full sweep of the three seats that were open in last month's election. Argiris appointed Vito to the village board after the unexpected death of Trustee Bob Heer in December. Vito's appointed term is up with the April 7 election.
If he loses, Papantos will serve the next four years and likely be a dissenting voice on several key issues. During the campaign, Papantos criticized the village's lucrative incentives for real estate developers and was the only candidate openly against runway expansion at Chicago Executive Airport, jointly owned by Wheeling and Prospect Heights.