Elections Board Dismisses Willie Wilson Calls for Probe Into Voting “Irregularities”

The Chicago Board of Elections says it has has not found any merit in one candidate's claim of voting irregularities. 

“We received zero complaints at our election central about the calibration of the equipment. We have no reason to investigate this matter further,” Jim Allen said. “This is an after-the-fact allegation that is a little mysterious.”

The response comes after mayoral candidate Willie Wilson called for an investigation into what he called voting "irregularities" Tuesday.  

The businessman, who has trailed in the polls despite putting $2 million of his own cash into his campaign, had said he and his attorney are asking the “state's attorney, FBI, anybody we can get" to look into his claims about issues at polling sites in the city. 

“We want to make sure that this is a fair election," Wilson told reporters Tuesday. 

One of Wilson's claims involved the wrong name coming out on ballots. In a press release from the Wilson campaign, one case involved a voter in Jackson Park who had to vote four times for Wilson before the selection was registered because the machine was not calibrated.

“What we find with some of these machines is that when we punch my name, then it comes out and in the print out it has Rahm Emanuel’s name," he said, 

Avila and Wilson want the Cook County State’s Attorney, Illinois Attorney General, FBI, and U.S. Attorney to “impound” early voting ballots and conduct a complete review.

Wilson is one of four candidates challenging Emanuel in his bid to win a second term. If no candidate secures more than 50 percent of the vote on Tuesday, the top two finishers will face off in an April 7 runoff. 

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