The last undecided House race in the nation continued in "extra innings" Wednesday, as Republican ex-Rep. Claudia Tenney clung to a lead of 12 votes over Democrat Rep. Anthony Brindisi in New York's 22nd District (Utica).
But on Wednesday, the contest grew weirder as the Chenango County Board of Elections suddenly revealed it had discovered 55 ballots that were "mislaid or never counted," according to the board's attorney.
Later in the day, it was reported that of the 55 just-found ballots, 11 are invalid because the voters weren't registered. Of the remaining 44 — all of which are in sealed envelopes that have not been opened — The New York Times reported that "more were cast by Republicans, which should favor Ms. Tenney."
State Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte, in whose Oswego courtroom the status of the congressional race is being decided, is expected to rule on Monday whether to order a recount.
DelConte could either order the boards of canvassers in the district's eight counties to recanvass the ballots or order a complete manual recount of all ballots cast.
Also in DelConte's hands is the fate of roughly 1,500 absentee and affidavit ballots that are being challenged by both the Brindisi and Tenney camps.
Should there be no final count of the contest by Jan. 3, the new Democrat-controlled U.S. House could refuse to seat either candidate. Under those circumstances, the seat could be declared vacant by the state of New York and a new election held to fill the vacancy.
Another route that Speaker Nancy Pelosi and the Democrat-run House could take in January is to order a recount of its own and then vote on which candidate should take the seat. The last time this occurred was in 1984, when Republican Rick McIntyre was certified the winner of his contest in Indiana's 8th District over Democrat Rep. Frank McCloskey.
A Democrat-controlled task force chaired by then-Rep. Leon Panetta, D-Calif., ignored many of the "technicalities" that led local officials to throw out ballots in Indiana-8 and decided that Democrat McCloskey actually won by four votes. He was subsequently seated.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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