CENTRAL NEW YORK (WSYR-TV) — It’s back to the drawing board this week for all eight boards of elections in the 22nd Congressional District. After a court order, each county is doing a partial recount of paper ballots that began on Monday in Madison, Herkimer, and Oswego counties.
News Channel 9’s latest count shows Republican candidate Claudia Tenney having a 12 ballot lead over Democrat incumbent Anthony Brindisi.
Elections commissioners and attorneys for both candidates spent the day reviewing and correcting, if they can, mistakes made in canvassing paper ballots.
“It was close, as close as we’ve ever been,” said Laura Costello, Madison County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner.
In the room were attorneys for Tenney’s campaign and Brindisi’s campaign and then someone from the House of Representatives to just oversee the process. And when each campaign feels it’s necessary, they can make their own objections to the ballots.
Costello said, “This is totally new to us. We have not gone through this before. And it is taking a long time just because there’s so many counties involved.”
By Monday morning, in Madison County alone, there were already more than 200 absentees needing a second look because either the Tenney campaign or the commissioners objected to them. Another 140 affidavit ballots were never counted at all.
A state judge made it clear that all eight counties made significant errors. Those in Madison County did not mark each ballot, clearly writing who is objecting and why.
“We do a spread sheet. And that was not following election law, so we’re just going to make it right, send them back up to the court if that’s what we need to do,” said Mary Egger, Madison County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner.
“It’s an open process and everyone’s free to look at it and make sure that we’re doing it right,” Costello said.
Something all eight counties are working toward by the end of this week.
