Cook County District 15 primary, Raju vs. Morrison, narrows to 24-vote margin

The Democratic primary race between Ravi Raju and Kevin B. Morrison for the Cook County Board's District 15 seat remains undecided a day after the polls closed.

Raju's lead over Morrison narrowed Wednesday to 24 votes from the 33-vote margin late Tuesday night, as election workers counted provisional and mail-in ballots.

The race could remain undecided for up to two weeks. Officials with the Cook County Clerk's Office said provisional ballots will take about a week to tabulate, and about 1,000 mail ballots have not yet arrived. Eligible mail-in ballots must be postmarked no later than March 20 and arrive within 14 days of the election, officials said.

"At most, we expect maybe half of those voters to actually send in their ballots," spokesman James Scalzitti said.

The winner will face three-term Republican incumbent Tim Schneider in the general election. Schneider is the chairman of the Illinois Republican Party.