Skip to content
  • About
  • Contact Us
  • Passport
  • Support WSKG
Donate
  • Donate
  • logo
  • logo
  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Your Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
  • Donate
  • More
    • About
    • Contact Us
    • Passport
    • Support WSKG

WSKG - Local news and arts, broadcasting NPR radio and PBS TV.

WSKG thanks our sponsors...
  • Donate your vehicle to support WSKG

WSKG (https://wskg.org/news/legal-proceedings-delay-ny-22-ballot-counting/)

  • Donate
  • Home
  • News
  • TV
  • Your Radio
  • Schedules
  • Events
  • Arts
  • Education
  • History
  • Science
Listen Live WSKG
Listen Live WSKG Classical

Watch Live WSKG TV
Watch Live PBS Kids
Learn at Home
Covid-19 information

Legal Proceedings Delay NY-22 Ballot Counting

By Jillian Forstadt | November 9, 2020
More
  • More on 2020 election
  • Subscribe to 2020 election

BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — A final result in the race for New York’s 22nd Congressional District are weeks away. An Oswego judge ordered county boards of elections to refrain from opening or counting mail-in ballots until further notice after both Republican candidate Claudia Tenney and Democratic incumbent Anthony Brindisi filed lawsuits demanding further supervision of the tabulation.

Candidates for New York’s 22nd Congressional District Rep. Anthony Brindisi and former representative Claudia Tenney (right). (Robert Lane/WSKG)

The order was issued Friday after Tenney’s campaign filed a petition against each of the county election offices in the district, as well as the New York State Board of Elections, Brindisi and Keith Price, the Libertarian candidate in the race. Oswego County Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte authored the notice. He is presiding over the lawsuit, filed by the Tenney campaign on Nov. 4.

The former Republican Congresswoman is represented by GOP election attorney Joe Burns, who represents Rep. John Katko (NY-24) and Rep. Tom Reed (NY-23) in similar lawsuits filed last week.

Submitted with nearly identical language, all three request that the court supervises and verifies the counts from early voting and Election Day, and validate and cure all mail-in ballots county boards receive.

In the final section of each petition, the Republican challenger requests a judgment of the court will then order election commissioners to certify the petitioning candidate as the elected winner.

A spokesperson for Tenney’s campaign clarified Monday evening that they’re asking to be certified only once all “legal and proper votes are tabulated.”

Absentee ballots may arrive at their county election offices until Nov. 10 and still be eligible for counting, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3.

While both Katko and Reed maintain leads of more than 50,000 votes, Tenney is up by 28,000 votes in NY-22. So far, at least 57,900 absentee ballots have been returned throughout the district. Brindisi would need to win a majority of them to keep his seat in Congress.

In a statement, Tenney’s campaign said they preemptively filed in court to ensure all outstanding ballots are counted fairly.

“This process, isn’t [sic] about anything other than protecting the candidate’s rights and protecting the will of the voters in this district,” Claudia Tenney for Congress spokesman Sean Kennedy wrote.

He said the campaign is confident Tenney will be declared the winner once all votes are counted. In a cross-petition filed over the weekend, Brindisi’s campaign said they were similarly confident of the Congressman’s chances of winning re-election.

Brindisi spokesperson Luke Jackson said in a statement that the Brindisi campaign will fight to make sure every legal ballot is counted.

“Elections aren’t won or lost on Twitter or in the courtroom, they’re settled at the ballot box,” Jackson wrote. “We look forward to the count of every legal ballot.”

Both campaigns now request the ability to have a party represent the candidate in inspecting ballots and objecting as appropriate. Attorneys representing county boards across the district and New York State, however, said court supervision of the ballot counting will dramatically lengthen the process.

Robert Pronteau, an attorney representing the Oneida County Board of Elections, said the county received more than 20,000 absentee ballots returned. During a formal meeting led by Justice DelConte, Pronteau said having attorneys from each campaign present to supervise the counting and verify each ballot, as well as its envelope, will add 2,000 hours to the task.

“It’s just not enough time,” Pronteau said “So even if we go forward with the canvass as we normally do it, the vast number of absentee ballots as a practical matter is going to make it next to impossible to get this done.

States must certify a winner by Nov. 28. A law secretary to DelConte said a decision should be made by Thursday.

Recent Posts

  • Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr., shown here in 2019, is in possession of former President Donald Trump's tax returns.
    After Lengthy Legal Battle, New York Prosecutor Receives Trump Tax Returns

    Updated at 2:15 p.m. ET The Manhattan district attorney's office is in possession of Donald Trump's tax returns, following a years-long effort by the former president to shield his finances and business affairs from scrutiny. A spokesperson for Manhattan District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. confirmed to NPR over email that his office obtained the records on Monday.

  • Thousands of Trump supporters gather outside the U.S. Capitol following a "Stop the Steal" rally on Jan. 6. They stormed the historic building, breaking windows and clashing with police. Nearly two months later some 250 rioters are facing charges, including Richard Michetti of Pennsylvania.
    Texting From The Capitol, PA Man Called His Ex-Girlfriend A ‘Moron.’ She Turned Him In

    One of the rioters accused of storming the U.S. Capitol on Jan. 6 was turned in by his ex-girlfriend after sending her several videos and texts from the scene, including one calling her a "moron," court documents show.

  • The building that houses the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York is pictured in 2015. Emails and text messages from prosecutors in that office have come out as part of an inquiry into their handling of a case.
    ‘Yeah, We Lied’: Messages Show New York Prosecutors’ Panic Over Missteps In Federal Case

    Newly disclosed documents from inside the U.S. Attorney's Office in Manhattan capture a sense of panic and dread among prosecutors and their supervisors as one of their cases collapsed last year amid allegations of government misconduct. The materials include a rare look at sensitive emails and text messages between junior prosecutors and their overseers after a federal judge began to inquire about lapses that ultimately led the Justice Department to abandon a conviction in a case it had already won.

  • Pandemic Creates ‘Perfect storm’ For Eating Disorders, But Treatment Could Be Hours Away

    ROCHESTER, NY (WXXI) - "When you're a person with an eating disorder,” said Mary Tantillo, “your enemies are uncertainty, ambiguity, unpredictability.” Tantillo, the director of the Western New York Comprehensive Care Center for Eating Disorders said that's why there's been a surge in new cases in the past year. The coronavirus pandemic, combined with social and political unrest in the past year, created a perfect storm for the disorders that affect nearly 1 in 10 Americans.

  • Are ‘Villages’ The Future Of Elder Care?

    The first thing you notice when you meet Tim O’Neill is that his hazel eyes smile, forming warm half-moons just above the disposable mask the pandemic necessitates.  CLICK HERE:

WSKG thanks our sponsors...

About WSKG

WSKG connects you to local and global news and the arts online, on the radio, and on TV. NPR and PBS affiliate.

Contact Us

email: WSKGcomment@wskg.org

phone: 607.729.0100

address: 601 Gates Road, Vestal, NY 13850

DONATE

Pay an underwriting invoice

  • WSKG
  • Arts
  • Education
  • Science
  • News
  • Your Radio
  • Schedule
  • TV
  • About
  • WSKG Staff
  • Contact Us
  • Jobs
  • Public Reports & Policies
  • Equal Employment Opportunity (EEO)
  • Protect My Public Media
FCC PUBLIC FILES
WSKG-FM
WSQX-FM
WSQG-FM
WSQE
WSQA
WSQC-FM
WSQN
WSKG-TV
WSKA
Disabled and need assistance with the online FCC public file?
Contact Gregory Keeler
WSKG
601 Gates Road
Vestal, New York 13850
607-729-0100
gkeeler@wskg.org

Stay Connected

Like Us on FacebookFollow Us on TwitterFollow Us on YouTubeFollow Us on InstagramSubscribe via RSS

© Copyright 2021, WSKG

Built with the Largo WordPress Theme from the Institute for Nonprofit News.

Back to top ↑

Change Location
To find awesome listings near you!