Recount underway in 2018 Macon County sheriff election

DECATUR, Ill. (AP) - Ballots from an Illinois sheriff election are being recounted - 20 months later.

Tony Brown has been serving as Macon County sheriff after defeating Jim Root, a Republican, by one vote out of nearly 40,000 cast in 2018.

The recount started Tuesday and could last weeks. It was ordered by a judge as a compromise agreed to by both candidates after Root filed a legal challenge to the result, the Herald & Review reported.

'œWe have maintained all along that the recount would actually result in Sheriff Brown increasing his lead,'ť predicted Christopher Sherer, Brown's attorney.

Ten election judges - five Republicans and five Democrats - are being paid $10 an hour to examine the ballots by hand.

'œIt's awkward, but it's the process and so we just march on,'ť Macon County Clerk Josh Tanner said. 'œThis has been a pretty unusual year and, hopefully, the election in November runs smoothly.'ť

Root's attorney, John Fogarty, said he won't be surprised if five or six votes change.

'œOut of the original 40,000 ballots cast, there will be a number of votes that didn't get counted because the marking isn't quite in the right place for the machine to read," Fogarty said. "But somebody who is reading it by hand now can tell that this is meant to be a vote for Brown or Root or whoever.'ť