BINGHAMTON, NY (WSKG) — Results in the election lawsuit over New York’s 22nd Congressional seat will take a few more days than initially expected. The Oswego County Supreme Court justice presiding over the case granted a two-day extension to the Oneida County Board of Elections, which was set to report corrected vote counts this Wednesday.
Democrat Anthony Brindisi and Republican Claudia Tenney at a debate at WSKG in 2018. (WSKG Public Media)
Representatives for Republican Claudia Tenney and Democrat Anthony Brindisi must now wait until Friday, at the earliest, to find out which candidate is closer to claiming the seat. The district is the only one without sitting representation in Congress.
Tenney currently leads by 29 votes nearly three months after the November election, but there are about 1,100 ballots on which presiding Oswego County Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte has yet to rule, along with all Oneida County affidavit ballots the Boards of Elections must recanvass after it failed to process 2,400 voter registration applications, resulting in swathes of rejected affidavit ballots.
In a letter addressed to Justice Scott DelConte on Monday, Assistant Oneida County Attorney Robert Pronteau wrote that Jan. 27 was the earliest possible date for the canvass to commence, following an initial review. He also said that the canvassing required a space in which members of the Board of Elections could adhere to COVID-19 protocols, which they could not do so safely in their own office.
COVID-19 has been a concern on several occasions since the start of the lawsuit. Members of both the Oneida County and Oswego County Boards of Elections contracted the virus, requiring other board members to quarantine and shutting down offices entirely as much of the Boards’ work remains in-person.
DelConte granted the Oneida Board’s request on Monday, giving them until 6 p.m. on Friday, Jan. 29 to return their corrections and report an updated vote count.