Herb cheated

He was a Democratic precinct captain who usually delivered a healthy vote for his candidates, better than the demographics of his precinct might have led some to expect.

 In 1976, Independents found out why.

Voting machines were used then, and one election judge from each party was instructed to unlock and open the back of the device and read the vote totals to the other judges, who manually recorded the results on giant tally sheets.

In this precinct the judges didn’t want to bother doing that. They said, "Herb can do it." So, the precinct captain - merely a party campaign worker – stood alone behind the back of the machine and called out the numbers that were allegedly displayed. The election judges unquestioningly recorded them in the official voting record.

Since Independent campaign organizations were often short of poll watchers, volunteers were usually assigned to precincts where anti-Machine voters were more numerous, and where it was more important to protect their vote.

This precinct was a low priority, so nobody had been watching Herb.

In one election, though, a poll watcher for the Independents was present, and she stood behind the machine and viewed the totals, too. At one point, Herb called out a number incorrectly, just to see if she was paying attention. She was.

The count that day was correct. It was in the next election, too, and Herb's candidate lost.

In the 1979 Mayoral primary, though, nobody was watching Herb, and Mayor Bilandic emerged from the precinct with a huge victory against challenger Jane Byrne. Herb should have been embarrassed by the praise heaped upon him when he returned to headquarters, as Bilandic had only won five precincts in the ward, and even seasoned captains had failed to deliver.

 Some people thought Herb had just reversed the numbers so he wouldn't lose.

 Exerpted from “Chicago Political Stories: Devious, Comical, and Just Plain Memorable,” at  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/994143