| I'm stuck home finishing my taxes, otherwise I'd be in Poughkeepsie liveblogging the court hearing in NY-20. But there are tidbits all over the web, and no doubt some people on the ground with fresh info, so I'm starting this all-purpose vote count diary:
BACKGROUND: The Tedisco legal team filed a suit to impound ballots even before the voting started on March 31st. This allowed them to choose the County in which the subsequent challenges would be heard, and they chose Dutchess County -- evidently because they liked the cut of the judges' jibs there better than other juridictions.
LIMITED COURT ACTION TODAY: According to The Albany Times-Union, though Judge Brands apparently fell sick today and is hospitalized, one of his clerks is hearing arguments today anyway:
Lawyers for both sides essentially restated the positions they have held all along. Murphy's lawyer, Henry Berger, said Tedisco's representatives are slowing the counting of absentee ballots unnecessarily by objecting to legitimate ballots. Berger said more than 600 ballots have been set aside for the judge to review due to challenges from either side - or, in the case of a few ballots, both sides.
Jim Walsh, a lawyer for Tedisco, said there was nothing wrong with being slow and careful. He also said election commissioners in Delaware and Essex counties violated a federal court order by opening military ballots, which according to the order cannot be opened until tomorrow.
LATEST VOTE COUNT: According to Talking Points Memo, the "official" margin as of Monday morning stands at Murphy +25, noting that:
"[T]he number is currently distorted by ballot challenges that appear to have kept a disproportionate number of Murphy votes out of the count."
WHAT'S UP IN SARATOGA? Posters at The Albany Project and elsewhere are wondering: Why is Saratoga County, the most Tedisco-friendly territory in the district, handling the vote count differently than all the others in the district?
Saratoga County is apparently not going to release any numbers until they are done counting.
TWITTER SEARCH: Here are links to people tweeting the following words: NY20, NY-20, Tedisco (I left out Murphy because it's not a unique enough name to produce useful results).
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UPDATE #1: According to The Poughkeepsie Journal, "So far, over 600 absentee, affidavit and other paper ballots have been challenged and set aside, according to Henry Berger, attorney for Murphy. [Judge] Brands will have to consider the ballots and decide what to do with them."
UPDATE #2: Politico reports that the Tedisco folks have been keeping their own count in Saratoga, claiming a pickup so far for Mister Disco of +121:
The Tedisco campaign, though, is releasing numbers from the still-ongoing absentee count in Saratoga County. Their count shows Tedisco netting 470 votes, Murphy gaining 351 votes - with 677 absentee ballots left to be counted. Saratoga County officials may be releasing an official tally later this afternoon, according to a county deputy elections commissioner.
UPDATE #3: Susan Barnett of Albany-based public radio affiliate WAMC has a mid-day report you can hear by clicking here. The report has several good nuggets:
1. There are about 10,000 absentees outstanding still;
2. The Republican legal team called for a count stoppage, but were unable to push that request due to Judge Brands' absence;
3. The Murphy team protested that since County Election Commissioners be present, as it made more counting imposible, and alleged that this was part of a Tedisco effort to slow down the count to gain some advantages.
UPDATE #4: Albany TV station Capital News 9 reports that Tedisco has raised more than $40,000 online to support his post-election legal battles... Donations can be made to the Murphy effort can be made via Act Blue, which shows Murphy with over $47,000 raised so far.
OK, let's hear what you're all hearing out there!
Crossposted at Kos. |
