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Losing Kane board candidate planning a recount

Although he ended up getting five more votes from absentee ballots, Bob Getz, who was running for a Kane County Board seat in the 22nd District, still lost the election, according to Kane County Clerk Jack Cunningham.

But Getz sees no reason to stop the momentum now and once the results are posted online next Tuesday, he intends to ask the county for an exploratory recount.

“You can’t just say, ‘I give up,’” Getz said. “When it’s going in your favor, why quit?”

Getz, 69, originally trailed his Republican opponent Douglas Scheflow, 55, by 18 votes, according to unofficial results on election day.

But after the county tallied the absentee ballots, Getz, a Democrat, picked up five more votes — closing the gap to 13 — while Scheflow didn’t win any new votes, officials said.

The brings the official total to 3,515 for Getz, while Scheflow’s count remained at 3,528, said Stan Bond, Kane County’s chief deputy clerk.

The state is expected to certify the results on Tuesday and county officials will post the new numbers on the Kane County website the same day, Bond said.

Getz is allowed to ask for a recount of 25 percent of the district’s 10 precincts and it will cost him $10 per counted precinct. He can’t make the request until after the results appear online.

Getz intends to keep an eye on the absentee ballots during the recount, since most other voters used electronic ballots.

“What I’m thinking is the numbers on the computer aren’t going to change,” Getz said. “The only thing you could possibly hope for to change are the absentee votes.”

Scheflow, meanwhile, doesn’t blame Getz for being extra careful.

“We’ll see what happens,” Scheflow said. “I was hoping I’d have better results by now.”

Getz and Scheflow were running for the seat now occupied by Jackie Tredup, who was not seeking re-election.

The 22nd District includes parts of western Elgin and Elgin Township and the winner is supposed to take office in December. The term lasts four years.

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