Park Ridge still a tossup between Obama, Clinton

Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama have bigger fish to fry -- and delegates to catch.

Still, the question of which Democratic heavyweight carried Hillary's childhood hometown of Park Ridge in Tuesday's primary voting remains a point of interest -- and an unanswered question.

As of Friday, election results in the Cook County clerk's office showed Clinton leading Obama by 560 votes in all of Maine Township, where 37 of 44 Park Ridge precincts are located.

But in the city of Park Ridge itself, Obama was clinging to a lead of 3,818 to 3,670. In six Park Ridge precincts, the two were dead even as of Friday afternoon.

Yet to be counted are some late absentee ballots, which will be tallied as long as they reach the clerk's office bearing a postmark of Feb. 4 or earlier. In addition, the clerk's office still is checking out provisional ballots -- those cast when a voter says he or she is registered but whose name is not listed at the polling place. Those ballots that check out will be counted; the ones that do not will be tossed.

County Clerk David Orr has until Feb. 26 to certify the results. The party nomination may not be settled by then, but bragging rights in Clinton's hometown should be.