Judge orders counties in tight N.Y. U.S. House race to fix missteps

ALBANY, N.Y. — The winner of the ultra-tight 22nd Congressional District race in New York remained unclear Tuesday as a state judge ordered county boards of elections to fix errors made when first counting ballots.

Democratic U.S. Rep. Anthony Brindisi and his Republican challenger, former U.S. Rep. Claudia Tenney, are separated by perhaps as few as a dozen votes and remain at odds over about 1,500 disputed ballots and several dozen uncounted ballots found recently by Chenango County.

The judge denied Tenney’s request to allow counties to declare her winner in his Tuesday order.

A string of recordkeeping problems — particularly over records of candidates objecting to ballots — has led to confusion over vote totals.

“To be clear, there is absolutely no evidence or even an allegation before this court of any fraud on the part of the boards or the campaigns,” State Judge Scott Del Conte wrote.

Del Conte ordered the boards of election to launch a “complete inspection” to account for every single submitted ballot. The judge also said boards of election shall count “every single” uncounted ballot.

And the judge has ordered county boards of election to fix all errors concerning disputed ballots and envelopes. He said if errors can’t be fixed, the election boards must count the ballots again and give candidates a chance to observe.

Del Conte also outlined a specific process for how county boards of election should handle disputed affidavit or absentee ballots: Election workers must open the envelope, make a photocopy of the ballot, place the photocopy in the envelope and write who made the objection, why, and how the election board ruled on the envelope.

The judge pointed to counties that failed to alert voters of fixable issues with their ballots, record candidate’s objections to ballots, properly count affidavit ballots and rule on hundreds of ballots that candidates objected to and went uncounted.

But he said there’s no evidence that county boards of elections’ failures are to blame on the pandemic, new tweaks to the state’s election laws or any strain on boards capacity and resources.

“Instead, the problems experienced by the candidates and, consequently, all of the voters across the eight counties in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, were a direct result of ‘the careless or inadvertent’ failure to follow the mandate of statute and case law by the boards of elections,” he wrote.

The judge’s ruling didn’t set a deadline for counties to fix ballot issues. He scheduled a compliance conference for counsel on Dec. 18.

Del Conte expressed frustration about a race that’s featured counties sending in shifting and, at times, incomplete vote tallies; dozens of ballots belatedly discovered uncounted; and an issue with critical records on ballot objections being lost when the sticky notes on which they had been written lost their adhesiveness.

Tenney’s spokesperson didn’t immediately provide comment Tuesday.

Brindisi called Del Conte’s decision a “win” for the district’s voters.

“This margin is too small and the stakes too high to rush to judge ment ,“Brindisi said in a statement. ”We owe it to voters, our democracy, and each other to let this process move forward without attacking each other, promoting conspiracy theories, or fanning the flames of division.“

Brindisi’s campaign had asked the judge to order counties to audit some results and provide records about ballot objections. Tenney’s team, in turn, lambasted Brindisi’ s request as“unprecedented“and“timeconsuming .”

Tenney has said in recent media appearances that she wants to count all votes. But her attorneys asked the judge to allow counties to certify her as the winner without counting the uncounted Chenango County ballots.

Del Conte made clear that he wants to make sure votes are counted and protect voters’ rights.

“Both candidates, of course, argue for relief that tactically presents the best option for their ultimate victory,” he wrote.