Thousands of ballots are hand-counted
The hand count of the ballots cast in the race for Ulster County district attorney entered its second day Friday, with thousands of ballots from the town of Saugerties and city of Kingston recanvassed.
Elections commissioners said they found one discrepancy from the original tally, in a ballot that had an extraneous mark on it. That ballot, which carried a vote for Democrat David Clegg, was set aside to give the candidates the opportunity to decide whether to challenge its validity.
If ruled invalid, the loss of that vote would reduce to 78 votes Clegg’s lead over Republican Michael Kavanagh.
Under county law, a mandatory hand recount of the ballots is triggered when an election is decided by 0.2 percent or less of the ballots.
Before the recount began, Kavanagh was trailing Clegg by 79 votes out of 53,623 cast, a 0.15 percent margin.
The recount started Thursday and is expected to last beyond Jan. 1, when the new district attorney is to take office.
Holley Carnright, a Republican, is stepping down at the end of this month after serving three four-year terms.
Democratic Elections Commission Ashley Dittus has said she and Republican Elections Commissioner Thomas Turco were advised by County Attorney Clint Johnson that Kavanagh, as chief assistant DA, will become acting district attorney if the hand count isn’t completed by Jan. 1. If Clegg ultimately wins the race, he would displace Kavanagh.
Turco said Thursday the hand count of the more than 50,000 ballots cast was going more quickly than officials originally anticipated, but that it was highly unlikely the work would be done before Jan. 1.