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The indecisive election between Rep. Anthony Brindisi and Claudia Tenney took a new turn today when Chenango County told a judge it found 55 uncounted ballots.
Chenango County District Attorney Alan Gordon said election officials determined 44 of the ballots were valid, enough to tip an election Tenney leads by 12 votes to Brindisi.
“These ballots apparently went missing and were never counted,” Gordon wrote in an email to Supreme Court Justice Scott J. DelConte.
Gordon said he advised the county electoral board to secure the ballots and leave them unopened in their offices. He said election officials determined 11 of the ballots were invalid because voters were not registered.
Chenango County Election Commissioner Carol Franklin told syracuse.com that all of the newly discovered ballots were affidavit ballots submitted during the state’s nine-day advance voting period. Franklin said she had no explanation as to why the ballots were not counted.
“I guess they got there early and were put aside and misplaced,” Gordon told syracuse.com, adding that county election officials had not provided him with more details. “I hope we can open them tomorrow with representatives present from each campaign.”
Gordon asked DelConte for instructions on how to proceed. The judge previously told each of the eight counties in the 22nd Congressional District not to change the official vote total submitted to the court on Monday.
As long as the 44 ballots are not opened, we will not know which candidate will benefit from them. But those ballots should have been part of the in-person votes counted on polling day. Those who voted in person at the polls overwhelmingly favored Tenney. She led Brindisi with over 28,000 votes that day. The gap narrowed to 12 votes after the counting of the postal and affidavit ballots.
DelConte was concerned after Herkimer County changed its voting totals on Sunday. The county said it corrected an earlier mistake by giving Brindisi 10 more votes and Tenney 35 more.
The district covers all of Madison, Oneida, Cortland and Chenango counties and parts of Oswego, Broome, Herkimer and Tioga counties.
LEARN MORE ABOUT THE 2020 ELECTION
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Problems with sticky notes, counting mean further delay in Brindisi-Tenney race
3 people voted by correspondence in the Brindisi-Tenney race, then died. What happens to their votes?
Ballots missing in limbo due to sticky notes lost in Brindisi-Tenney House race
Brindisi-Tenney House race shrouded in secrecy, confusion as campaigns compete for ballots
Do you have a tip, a comment or a story idea? Contact Mark Weiner anytime by: E-mail | Twitter | Facebook | 571-970-3751
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