The last undecided House race in the U.S. took a new twist Tuesday morning, as State Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte ordered election officials in the eight-county 22nd District of New York to recount some of the 60,000 absentee ballots.
In so doing, DelConte declined the request of former Republican Rep. Claudia Tenney to certify her as the winner by 12 votes out of more than 318,000 cast — the last official count by the Boards of Canvassers in the district’s eight counties.
DelConte’s 20-page order also dismissed the call by Democrat Rep. Anthony Brindisi’s legal team for a targeted recount in certain counties favorable to him.
“None of the lawyers here want to win a lawsuit — they want to win an election,” the judge snapped during a virtual hearing on Monday.
In confirming the 12-vote lead of Tenney’s that the final count showed, DelConte ordered the county canvassers to recheck counting errors and review ballots that both campaigns disputed.
Should it prove impossible to correct counting errors, DelConte ruled, the county officials must then conduct a manual count of the ballots in question.
The judge’s ruling came as more bizarre developments popped up in the race that doesn’t seem to end.
In issuing his ruling, for example, Judge DelConte revealed at least twelve more ballots were discovered in Chenango County — a week after it was revealed there were 55 unopened mail-in ballots suddenly discovered in the same county.
A letter to the court revealed that an employee of the Oneida County Board of Elections tested positive for coronavirus and that all employees might be exposed.
This would no doubt stretch out the time before a final count of the race could be completed and a winner certified.
John Gizzi is chief political columnist and White House correspondent for Newsmax. For more of his reports, Go Here Now.
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