The recount in the SD-11 race continues and it's starting to get ugly. I've been hearing about these shenanigans for about a week now. Finally, the Times has a story describing the mess out in Forest Hills. Basically, the GOP is challenging the ballots of pretty much anyone with an Asian or Hispanic surname. Oh, and the whole process is being run by a woman on Dean Skelos' payroll. Really.
Democratic officials and lawyers have accused the Republicans of systematically challenging the ballots of voters with surnames that sound Asian or Hispanic, a charge that Republican officials deny. The charge is particularly stinging in a Senate district that, in the 2000 census, was nearly 25 percent Asian and 13 percent Hispanic.
"They are challenging ballots based on a technicality that had never been enforced in the past," said Michael H. Reich, the executive secretary of the Queens Democratic Party and one of the lawyers overseeing the counting. "But they are only doing it to Democratic voters and voters with names that they assume are African-American, Latino or Asian. They're not doing it with voters they presume are white. I am outraged by this."
Specifically, Mr. Reich said that under a longstanding bipartisan practice, the votes of those who have filled out paper ballots have been counted, so long as they are listed as registered voters. The controversy centers on so-called affidavit ballots, in which voters attest to having moved into a district other than where they are registered. In some cases, the paper ballots failed to include the voter's prior address. In other cases, the voter neglected to check one of several boxes indicating a change of address. Those ballots have been deemed ineligible by the Republican officials.
In the past, Democrats claim, all such ballots were counted. But this time, they say, the Republican commissioner of the Board of Elections in Queens has ruled that ballots should be invalidated if they do not include the signature or stamp of a poll worker.
And just who is this Republican BoE Commissioner? That would be one Judith Stupp, director of downstate operations for the Senate GOP. Oh, and did I mention she's a Padavan donor?
That ruling brought a firestorm of criticism from Democratic officials and lawyers, who point out that the Republican commissioner, Judith Stupp, is also employed as the manager of downstate operations for New York State Senate Republicans. She is also a contributor to Mr. Padavan's campaign.
If this doesn't sound fishy, I don't know what would. Regardless, Stupp's crew is systematically challenging the ballots of Democrats with ethnic sounding surnames - these are all Padavan's constituents, mind you, the people he was elected to serve so many times - whilst seemingly ignoring those from folks who sound sufficiently white and Republican.
On a recent afternoon, over a period of several hours, a reporter observed that the Democratic lawyers objected to none of the ballots that came before the group. Meanwhile, the Republican lawyer, John Ciampoli, registered repeated objections, in several cases regarding voters with names that could be perceived as Hispanic or Asian.
Stay classy, Republicans! |
