New York Democrat Anthony Brindisi, the incumbent for New York's 22nd congressional district, said Friday that he is "shocked" a New York judge rejected his campaign's claims that voting machine irregularities resulted in his loss to Republican Claudia Tenney.
New York State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte ruled Friday that Tenney should be certified as the winner of the race, bringing an end to the last undecided race for Congress in the country.
In so doing, DelConte rejected Brindisi's attempt to delay the election's certification until he appealed his case through the court system.
Tenney defeated Brindisi by just 109 votes, 156,098 votes to 155,989.
Not only did DelConte criticize local boards of election for what he called "systemic violations of state and federal election law," but he rejected claims that voter fraud tampered the outcome of the contested election, according to Syracuse.com.
From Syracuse.com:
The judge also took the opportunity to dispel the rumors that have swirled around the legal proceedings regarding the integrity of the election. While there were errors, he writes, there was no fraud. No dead people voted. There were no discrepancies in voting machines, he said.
"Every single valid vote that was cast in New York's 22nd Congressional District has been accounted for, and counted," he wrote.
Lawyers for Brindisi had argued in a court filing this week that voting tabulation errors had marred the election.
"In this case, there is reason to believe that voting tabulation machines misread hundreds if not thousands of valid votes as undervotes, and that these tabulation machine errors disproportionately affected Brindisi," they said, the Associated Press reported.
Brindisi called the judge's ruling "shocking," demanded a hand recount, and claimed the true winner of the race remains unknown.
I am shocked and surprised by this decision because of the countless errors and discrepancies that have occurred throughout this initial count. I believe a full audit and hand recount is the only way to resolve this race. With the margin so thin, the ever changing tally, and the countless errors that have occurred arriving at today's final number we can't afford to wonder here. We have to get it right.
Because this is not a raffle, this is a congressional election. The law that took effect January 1 says we should abide by hand counts whenever the margin is 0.5% or less— it's even closer here right now. Let's follow that rule, get this right for our constituents and count all the 325,000-plus votes. It's shocking, right now, no one knows who actually won this race. My opponent and I deserve true clarity.
According to Syracuse.com, Brindisi is not only prepared to appeal his case through the court system, but he may even do so before the House of Representatives.
"I'm honored to have won this race. It was a hard-fought campaign and I thank Anthony Brindisi for his service. Now that every legal vote has been counted, it's time for the results to be certified. The voters need a voice in Congress, and I look forward to getting to work on behalf of New York's 22nd Congressional District," she said in a statement, The Hill reported.
It's not yet clear when Tenney will be seated in the House. Her win will likely be certified early next week.
Though today is Feb. 1, 2021, the 2020 U.S. election has yet to be fully resolved, as the race in New York's 22nd Congressional District remains unresolved.
Republican Claudia Tenney currently holds a 122-vote lead over Democratic candidate Anthony Brindisi after state Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte on Friday ruled which votes should be counted and which should be rejected in the disputed race, WSYR-TV reports.
Prior to Friday's ruling, Tenney led Brindisi by only 29 votes. But the Brindisi campaign had argued in court that 69 ballots from Oneida County that were not counted should have been. These ballots were from voters who registered to vote with the DMV by the deadline to do so, but did not appear in records on Election Day, requiring them to fill out an affidavit ballot. The Oneida County Board of Elections did not process these registrations, and the votes were not counted.
The Brindisi campaign wanted only 69 ballots to be counted; however, state Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte ordered every ballot that was rejected on these grounds to be counted, not just the ones Brindisi's campaign brought forward. The result was 139 new votes counted for Brindisi and 232 new votes for Tenney, expanding Tenney's lead to 122 votes.
Justice DelConte also ruled Friday that hundreds of affidavit/provisional ballots the Brindisi campaign wants counted should not be considered. These discounted votes include 128 ballots from voters who dropped ballots off at the wrong polling place, 20 ballots cast in the wrong county, and 85 ballots cast by so-called "purged voters," people who were previously registered to vote but were inactive voters for so long that they were removed from registration lists.
"Despite the severity of the transgressions that have been uncovered in this proceeding, including multiple violations of state and federal Election Law, this Court has no authority to grant any other relief," DelConte wrote in his opinion.
On Monday, local boards of elections from the 22nd District returned to court to make their final vote counts official before certifying the results of the election on Tuesday. The Brindisi campaign, however, has vowed to appeal the state Supreme Court decision (in New York, the Supreme Courts are appellate courts and the Court of Appeals is the state's highest court).
"The integrity, accuracy, and efficiency of this process has always been the Brindisi campaign's priority. With ballots still to be counted as part of the initial count and pending appeals from both parties, it is important not to rush to judgment. We are hopeful that once all the legal ballots are counted, Anthony will be certified the winner," a spokesman for the Brindisi campaign said Friday night.
The Democratic campaign filed paperwork Monday to delay the court-ordered certification of the vote.
"Substantial errors and irregularities in the conduct of the election have come to light. As these proceedings have continued, that evidence has only mounted. … As a result, a hand audit is warranted under New York law and should be immediately ordered," the campaign said in court documents.
WSYR-TV however reported that Tenney's lead is likely insurmountable.
www.theblaze.com
freebeacon.com