A Republican primary in New York’s 22nd State Senate district in southern Brooklyn is coming down to a nail-biting seven votes, with last week’s unofficial tally so tight that the Board of Elections is still canvassing and lawyers are already squaring off in Kings County Supreme Court.
According to amNewYork, Board of Elections filings show 39 blank ballots, 16 void ballots and 151 write-ins in the race. On July 1 the board went into Kings County Supreme Court seeking to toss out a petition filed a day earlier by candidate Bernard Vaiselberg. His June 30 filing asks for a full manual recount, preservation of all election records, broader access for campaign observers and an order blocking certification while the review plays out.
What New York law requires
State election law mandates a full manual recount when a race is decided by twenty votes or fewer, or by one-half of one percent or less. It also spells out in detail how county boards must run a canvass and recount. Under N.Y. Election Law §9-208, officials must first complete a recanvass of the voting machine tabulation tapes before they can even start a full manual recount.
Court fight and the count
Vaiselberg’s petition claims that a ballot scanner failed at a poll site in the 45th Assembly District, which he says forced poll workers to rely on emergency or paper ballots. The Board of Elections counters that the lawsuit is jumping the gun because the canvass is still underway for absentee, affidavit and other ballots. The board has also told the court that some mail ballots may be in the cure process through July 10.
On July 1 Justice Peter P. Sweeney issued an order that lets campaign observers watch the board’s counting from four feet away while the canvass continues. Unofficial election night results currently show Caller with 513 votes and Vaiselberg with 506, a seven-vote edge that would trigger a manual recount if it survives the canvass, as reported by amNewYork.
What happens next
The Board of Elections will keep working through its canvass, including resolving any challenges to provisional ballots, before it certifies the outcome. The procedures for handling mail, absentee and affidavit ballots are laid out in state law, specifically N.Y. Election Law §9-209.
If the final margin stays within the statutory threshold, a full manual recount is required. If the GOP result ultimately holds, the Republican nominee will advance to face Democratic state Sen. Sam Sutton, who currently represents the 22nd District. The Board of Elections’ official candidate list is posted on its website (BOE).
