Believe it or not, New York’s 22nd Congressional District still does not have a representative in the U.S. House of Representatives.
Right now Republican challenger Claudia Tenney leads incumbent Democrat Rep. Anthony Brindisi by 29 votes.
So two weeks ago we found out that the Oneida Board of Elections (OBE) did not “process 2,418 applications from voters who applied via the Department of Motor Vehicles before the state deadline.”
More than likely the people at the polls told the voters “they weren’t registered” when they went to vote. They walked away without voting, but some “went on to file affidavit ballots that were also not counted.”
New York State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte ordered the OBE to review 1,028 rejected ballots “that could be from voters who applied on time via the DMV.”
Brindisi only wants 69 Democrat votes to count. Tenney said this is not up to DelConte.
DelConte did not rule for either candidate:
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.—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.”
OBE must give the court its report by January 27th.
Here are statements from Brindisi and Tenney:
CLICK HERE FOR FULL VERSION OF THIS STORY