You are reading

Ballot Counting Begins Today in Queens DA Race Recount

Melinda Katz and Tiffany Cabán.

July 15, 2019 By Laura Hanrahan

The manual recounting of more than 93,000 ballots in the Queens District Attorney Democratic Primary officially began today, following the conclusion of a days-long ballot sorting process late last week by Board of Elections staffers.

The recount operation, which kicked off on July 9, was automatically triggered by Melinda Katz’s narrow 16-vote lead over Tiffany Cabán after affidavit and absentee ballots were counted on July 3. Until that point, Cabán had held a 1,199 vote lead over Katz.

Last Tuesday, at a BOE facility in Middle Village, staffers began cracking open nearly 800 double-locked blue bins that contained every ballot counted in the race. The staffers then spent the rest of the week tediously sorting ballots into their appropriate election districts.

With the sorting phase complete, staffers began tallying votes at 10 a.m. this morning and will work until 7 p.m. tonight. The counting is reportedly expected to take roughly 15 days, meaning a winner could be declared by the end of the month if staffers continue to work on Saturdays.

The manual recount will allow BOE staff to count votes that may have been missed by the voting machines in the June 25 Democratic primary, such as ballots where voters used a checkmark or circled a candidate’s name rather than coloring in one of the machine-readable bubbles.

Alongside the recount, Cabán and Katz will be meeting in court regarding the validity of 114 specific affidavit ballots.

The legal proceedings arose out of a suit filed by a lawyer for Cabán earlier this month. The 114 ballots in question, which have not yet been counted, each contain errors in the information filled out by the voter and were consequently voided by the BOE. The majority of these ballots—roughly 70—were discounted because the voter did not clearly state their party affiliation.

Lawyers representing Cabán, Katz and the BOE have a court date set for this Wednesday to discuss any relevant issues that may arise from the recount. Ultimately, a ruling will be issued on the disputed ballots after the manual recount concludes, but only if the results are still close enough for the 114 uncounted ballots to have an impact.

The winner of the Democratic Primary is expected to face off against GOP nominee Daniel Kogan in November, where they are favored to win.

email the author: news@queenspost.com

3 Comments

Click for Comments 
Jamie

The Attorneys “volunteering” for Katz – Bolz and Reich – are the same ones who have rigged so many elections in the past by keeping challengers off the ballot . No doubt they are trying to steal this election for Katz also — they makes millions off the corrupt Queens machine .

10
3
Reply
Gardens Watcher

No doubt you are either a disgruntled ex-employee, or more likely a rejected Democratic candidate at some point in your life — Your many lives (Jamie, Elizabeth, etc.)

4
15
Reply
Gardens Watcher

Were you a rejected challenger candidate? Did you lose your probate court case because of them? Just wondering why the obsession with the lawyers.

4
28
Reply

Leave a Comment
Reply to this Comment

All comments are subject to moderation before being posted.

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Recent News

Twenty people indicted in Queens-based $4.6M vehicle theft ring after three-year probe: DA

Twenty individuals were indicted and variously charged in a wide-ranging scheme to steal cars in Queens, throughout New York City and its suburbs, following a three-year investigation by the Queens District Attorney’s Office, the NYPD, and the New York State Police dubbed “Operation Hellcat,” into the criminal enterprise based in Queens.

Some of the vehicles were stolen from owners’ driveways, some with the keys or key fobs inside. The stolen vehicles were often sold through advertisements on social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram. The defendants are charged in nine separate indictments for a total of 373 counts, Queens District Attorney Melinda Katz announced on Thursday.

Masked gunman robs Total Wireless store in Flushing, steals $6K: NYPD

Police from the 109th Precinct in Flushing are looking for a masked gunman who pulled off an armed robbery at a cell phone store on the night of Monday, May 5.

The suspect entered the Total Wireless shop located in the old Hua Cheng Restaurant at 41-19 Kissena Blvd., across the street from the Queens Public Library branch, just before 7 p.m. He approached the counter, pulled out a firearm, and threatened the 27-year-old woman who was working the night shift, police said Wednesday.