The process of officially declaring Kirk the winner and transmitting that information to Washington has several steps.
First, local election authorities finish counting votes and send the results to the State Board of Elections. The deadline for that is Nov. 19, said David Druker, spokesman for Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White. On Nov. 23, the Board of Elections meets to officially certify the winner.
After that, White and Gov. Pat Quinn sign a form notifying the U.S. Senate that Kirk has been elected. The paperwork then goes to the Senate, which next meets on Nov. 29.
I'd be interested to know if all of these dates/deadlines are set by law, or if this is just typical Chicago dem obstructionism.
What is really interesting is that we don’t know if either West Virginia or Delaware will have officially certified their candidates by then either.