Nearly a week after primary voting finished, two Albany Common Council races have yet to be called – and one is currently tied.
The 3rd Ward and 6th Ward common council seats have no clear winners, with just two votes separating candidates in one race and the other race locked in a dead heat.
In the 3rd Ward, unofficial results show Arthur Lumpkin leading James Davis 321 to 319. Both candidates are vying to replace Joyce Love, who decided not to seek a third term. Neither candidate could be reached for comment.
Meanwhile, the 6th ward contest for the seat Gabriella Romero vacated when she was elected to serve as 109th district Assembly member, is currently tied. Unofficial results show Deirdre Brodie and Justin Perkins with 379 votes each.
The dead heat comes in a primary that began as a six-way race. Three of the six went on to compete in the primary: Danny Boudreau, Brodie and Perkins.
Boudreau has 268 votes.
Richard Conti, who previously held the seat for many years and was appointed by Mayor Kathy Sheehan to finish out Romero's term, did not run in the primary.
Republican BOE Commissioner Rachel Bledi says the ballots will be subjected to a process known as "curing."
"Voters now have the opportunity to cure any deficiencies on a ballot," said Bledi, "such as a mismatch signature or an open envelope. Sometimes a husband and a wife sign for each other inadvertently. So what they do is they cure their ballot by signing an affidavit and attesting to the fact that they are, in fact, the voter and that that was their intended ballot. In addition to that, voters have the ability to even though the ballots have to be postmarked by election day or by primary day. In this case, we still have seven days to receive the absentee back via USPS, and so the deadline for that would be tomorrow."
Perkins says he is committed to unity and continuity, regardless of the election outcome. Regardless of what happens in the primary, he could run in November on the Working Families Party line.
"I haven't even considered November yet," Perkins said. "What we have right now is a fight on our hands. That is going to be a recount, and the rally cry, whether it's Deirdre or myself, is count all the votes, and that's what we're entirely focused on right now. I will make a decision before July 7, when that decision must be made. But right now, I'm just focused on the recounts and looking forward to Ian any capacity, working with the incoming administration."
Brodie responded to a request for comment by text message, noting she "would love to dive in once the results are finalized."
Bledi says the candidates and the voters in the two wards won't have to wait too much longer... "By Wednesday afternoon we’ll probably have a better idea, and the reason for that is because there is another state law that requires a manual recount in any race where the margin of difference between the winner and second place is less than 20 votes, which potentially this race falls into. So we are scheduled to do a manual recount 9 a.m. on Wednesday," Bledi said.
