Military and federal overseas absentee ballots were opened across the 20th Congressional District this week, where the count of absentee ballots in the too-close-to-call race has been proceeding for over a week.
As of press time, Wednesday, April 15, the count from the state Board of Elections showed Scott Murphy in the lead over James Tedisco by 168 votes, 78,329 to 78,161.
The results are still unofficial, but so far closely mirror returns from voting machines on March 31. Tedisco and his Republican brethren have since then asserted that military ballots will be a driving force in delivering a GOP win, but with just 205 of the 998 ballots sent out returned, Tedisco is petitioning for a 15-day deadline extension to allow those ballots to arrive at county Boards of Elections.
The Federal Voter Assistance Program of the Department of Defense recommends allowing 45 days from the time of sending overseas ballots to allow those ballots to be received and returned to election officials. In this case, because of the nature of the special election held in the State of New York on March 31, 2009, some counties sent their ballots out barely 18 days before the deadline, wrote Tedisco in a letter to the U.S. Attorney General, Gov. David Paterson and the state Board of Elections on Monday.
Lawyers for Murphy, on the other hand, are fighting to expedite the counting process. An April 8 court victory for Democrats let domestic absentee ballots be counted before the overseas deadline, for example.
`The people of the 20th Congressional District need their votes counted without endless delays, so they can be represented in Congress as quickly as possible,` said Henry Berger, who is heading up Murphy’s legal team.
Efforts to extend the deadline for military ballots would only allow them more time to reach the Boards of Elections`all ballots must have been postmarked by March 31 to be valid. Three counties ` Delaware, Greene and Otsego ` have completed counting all paper ballots, as of press time.
But unless those ballots yet to be counted give either candidate a sizable lead, it is likely that this election will come down to legal challenges that representatives of both campaigns have been raising during the counting process.
Counting the absentee ballots is a painstaking process. Before the vote can start being tallied, copies of the voter rolls, the absentee voter’s ballot application and a copy of both sides of the ballot’s mailing envelope must be presented to representatives of both campaigns. Either side can raise a challenge if they detect anything they feel would violate state election law.
Then the ballot itself is inspected, and challenges can be raised again. On Monday, April 13, 350 ballots in Saratoga County had been challenged, said Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Diane Wade.
`If it’s objected to, it’s put aside,` said Wade. `Either the judge will rule on them or the campaigns will decide to rule them out.`
Election officials in Saratoga County`the district’s most populous`had hoped that the counting of domestic absentee ballots would be completed on Tuesday afternoon, but as of press time no results were available. Tedisco carried Saratoga on election day, 30,036 to 25,429.
Kirsten Gillibrand’s absentee ballot was challenged in Columbia County on Tuesday, as Republican poll watchers argued that she was in the district on election day, and thus should have voted in person. Gillibrand, who vacated the seat when Gov. David Paterson picked her to fill Hillary Clinton’s Senate seat, was at Murphy’s Saratoga Springs victory party on the evening of March 31.
Gllibrand fired back in an editorial posted to The Huffington Post, a news-oriented opinion blog.
`National Republicans are trying to turn the 20th District of New York into the next Minnesota,` she wrote, referencing the six-month old legal battle over a close Senate race between Al Franken and Norm Coleman. `Every day that the national Republicans waste with their dishonest stalling tactics is another day Upstate New Yorkers are deprived their Member of Congress.`
Former New York City mayor Rudy Giuliani, in a mailer soliciting donations for Tedisco’s recount efforts, made a similar attack on Democrats.
`Nancy Pelosi and the DC Democrats have sent in a team of attorneys to challenge Republican absentee ballots. They will not rest until the election results show a victory for Jim’s Democrat opponent,` said Giuliani.
Continue to check www.spotlightnews.com for the latest vote tallies and updates on the election.“