Now, such suspicions have given way to finger-pointing. Rick Fulle, a State Board of Elections official in charge of certifying Chicago and Cook County's election machinery, said his office does the best it can under a limited budget and six-person staff. He welcomed the city and county's plan to send out ballots and voting machines for more testing. We're all concerned. City and county officials said they were forced to use the new ballot cards because of a sharp increase in candidates, primarily involving judicial seats.
Cook County has a two-prong system for electing and retaining judges.
To encourage diversity on the bench, a 1991 law divided the county into districts called sub-circuits. Such judges initially were elected by voters only within their sub-circuits. But to retain their seats, they must seek voter approval in the entire county. Election officials said the retention races were the primary cause behind the drive to increase the capacity of the ballot card. The county's only other option would have been to use two cards.