22nd District Counties Get Contested Congressional Ballots Back for Review

The contested absentee ballots in New York's unresolved 22nd District Congressional race are back in the hands of the county boards of elections for a re-count.

New York Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte ruled this week that the eight counties in the district must re-canvass the contested ballots as work continues to find a winner in the ultra-tight race between incumbent Democrat Rep. Anthony Brindisi and the woman who had the job before being defeated in another close contest two years prior: Republican Claudia Tenney.

DelConte directed the counties to retrieve their ballots by noon December 9 for review and then return them to court with proper and clear notations on admissibility of the votes.

The count has been rife with errors from not-so-sticky sticky-notes on ballots indicating their validity falling off to misplaced ballots discovered twice in Chenango County and elections workers testing positive for the coronavirus.

When the initial canvass was reported and before missing ballots were discovered, Tenney was ahead by a mere 12 votes and wanted that count certified, a move Justice DelConte turned down.

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The Boards of Elections in the region are expected to start their reviews next week. It's not known how long that review may take.