In a race that could end up deciding which party controls the New York State Senate, the final vote count may not be in for two or more weeks.
The new 46th senate district is nearly deadlocked with Republican Assemblyman George Amedore trailing Democratic School Board member Cecilia Tkaczyk by 139 votes with 7500 absentee and affidavit ballots due to be counted in the coming weeks.
Amedore sued yesterday to impound all paper ballots and materials in the five-county district. A judge will likely set up a schedule for counting the ballots. Both the Amedore and Tkaczyk campaigns will be able to set aside any ballot they find objectionable. If there remains no clear winner, it will fall back to the courts to handle any refuted ballots and certify a winner.
Following Tuesday’s other election results, Democrats held a 31-30 lead in the state senate, which requires 32 votes to pass measures.
Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press