The Latest On NY-20: Republican Tedisco Leads By 17-Votes
Posted Apr 08, 2009 at 9:29 AM
Maurice Berger, Political Director, PollTrack
According to the New York State Board of Elections, Republican Jim Tedisco Leads Democrat Scott Murphy by 17-votes in the special election to replace congresswoman Kerstin Gillibrand. As of late yesterday, the official tally with most counties now re-canvassed reads as follows:
Scott Murphy (D): 77,017
Jim Tedisco (R): 77,034
The Albany Times Union reports that counties will begin counting absentee ballots today, despite Tedisco insistence that counting resume only after all of the ballots are in: "Lawyers for Republican Jim Tedisco argued Monday the ballots should not be opened until April 14, the day after the deadline for receipt of all absentee ballots, both overseas military and domestic. Lawyers for Democrat Scott Murphy argued that although the elections commissioners in the 10-county district must wait until April 14 to count military ballots, that is no reason not to start counting the other ballots Wednesday, the day after they are due. Judge James Brands agreed with Murphy's legal team. Brands wrote in his decision: 'While this court agrees with counsel that there should be no rush in this process to the detriment of a fair and accurate account, it occurs to this court that both the candidates and the constituency they serve are entitled to a prompt resolution of this contested election which apparently is in a deadlock with each candidate having the same number of votes.'"
