State Supreme Court Justice, Scott DelConte, has Ordered the Oneida County Board of Elections, to go through more than 1,000 Ballots in the 22nd Congressional District Race, more than 70 days after the Election was held.
It’s the latest turn and the latest delay in the last Undecided Congressional Race in the Country. Claudia Tenney (R) is ahead of Incombent Anthony Brindisi (D) by 29 votes of 311,695 Votes Cast.
It comes after the Discovery Two weeks ago that Oneida County’s Elections Board Failed to Process 2,418 Ballots from Voters who Applied on time via the Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV).
Those Voters would have been told they weren’t Registered when they Arrived at Polling places. Hundreds of them likely Walked away without Voting, and many others went on to file Affidavit Ballots that were also Not Counted.
There are 1,028 Rejected Affidavit Ballots in Oneida County that could be from Voters who Applied on Time via the DMV, according to DelConte’s Ruling. He’s Ordered the County Elections Staff to review All of them to determine how many Fit in that Category. Those that do fit will be Counted, the Judge ruled.
Brindisi’s Attorneys had asked DelConte to count 69 of the Ballots from these Voters, but No more than that. These Ballots belong Primarily to Democrats, according to Testimony.
Tenney’s Attorneys had argued that, even though it is Unfortunate that Voters were Disenfranchised through No Fault of their own, it is Not up to the Judge to Retroactively Register those voters.
Neither Candidate asked the Judge to do what he ultimately Ordered: A Full Review of the 10,28 possible Ballots from these Voters.
“Both candidates press this Court to disregard either some, or all, of the potentially valid ballots because it is strategically advantageous for them in this election,” he wrote. “...Both of these arguments ignore the fact that this problem only exists because...the Oneida County Board of Elections failed to comply with (election law) and review its records.”
The Judge’s Order requires the Election Board to Report the Results of its Review by Jan. 27th.
NYC Wins When Everyone Can Vote! Michael H. Drucker
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