The Rock Island County Clerk's office is following election rules. This morning, Judge Lori Lefstein rejected a request for an injunction from the head of the GOP in the county. Last week, Republican Chairman Bill Bloom, filed a complaint about the opening and counting of absentee ballots.
The injunction would have stopped County Clerk Karen Kinney from opening, scanning, and tabulating those ballots before election night.
Bloom says the ruling did not take into account the potential harm of opening them early.
Judge Lefstein also decided the 1,400 ballots already tabulated by the clerk's office will still count.
Rock Island County State's Attorney, John McGehee, says the judge recognized Kinney is upholding election law, despite unclear and outdated statutes.
The Rock Island County Clerk's office will continue opening and scanning absentee ballots into tabulating machines, as the staff has been for the past couple of weeks.
In addition, Bloom had also complained about limited access for poll watchers during counting, but that won't change either.