The Hornell Evening Tribune reports that the absentee ballots in 29th have been impounded due to court order:
The court order, requested Tuesday morning by the state Republican and Democratic party chairmen, means the earliest the written votes will be counted is Monday or Tuesday, said Steuben's Election Board Democratic Commissioner Allan Johnson.
In Steuben, that means that the ballots are locked in the jail. They will be opened next week, with representatives from both campaigns present.
Sorry for the confusion on the last post. I assume (dangerous) that the recanvass of voting machines will also occur around this time. In any event, those machines are now locked and sealed.
Comments
It is pretty pathetic when Allen and Burns have the class to concede their Senate races with less or a margin than in this race.
So, Milo, what's your take on Sue Kelly in Westchester County? She's a Republican who's doing the same thing as Massa and Maffei. Is she "pathetic" also? Just curious if you want to be fair or not.
It's hardly a matter of class or etiquette. Some of these votes are likely to be from service members - Are you going to be so pathetic as to suggest their votes be ignored? Every vote should be counted, every election - no winner declared till it's done.
This is not a Democrat-Republican thing.
All three of the candidates have lost.
Yes, it is POSSIBLE that all of the absentee ballots could come back for Massa, Kelly, and Maffei.
However, it's also possible that Mike Arcuri is going to be elected Speaker of the House of the upcoming Congress and that Tom Reynolds is going to start a daycare business.
Possible, yes. Possible enough that it is worth what Massa, Maffei, and Kelly are doing. Not a chance.
And with all due respect to the troops, give me a break re: the "some of these votes are from service members".
A vote is a vote.
If these elections were close like the NM-1 race between Wilson and Madrid, then the counting is crucial and I would be 100% behind it.
These recounts of wide margin NY Congressional races is just a case of losing candidates being sore losers.
I have some sympathy. It sucks to lose -- especially when all of your other candidate friends won.
And for the record, I'm a Democrat, but being a Democrat doesn't mean that I live in a fantasy world where Democrats or Republicans can poop on the ground and it doesn't smell.
Well, it does smell behind all 3 of these candidates, and if George Allen or Conrad Burns was doing what Massa, Maffei, and Kelly are doing I suspect some of the voices that are chastizing me would be singing a very different tune.
I never claimed a D-R thing here. My point is about accuracy. A vote is a vote and it should be counted. I truly don't understand what you think that Massa, Maffei and Kelly are doing that's sooooo Terrible. The statements I've seen have been entirely reasonable. No one is storming the Board of Elections with protesters flown in from out of state. I say let the process work.
OK, you are right ... this annoys me, but Eric Massa's temper tantrum is really not worth the energy.
As you indicate nobody is going to die, and it will give the local reporters something to write about.
Randy Kuhl has moved on and is focused on his 2nd term and I will move on as well.
So, Milo, I guess the answer is that you're consistent. I understand your position. I agree with part of it: it wouldn't hurt Massa to concede - all votes would be counted in any case, because that's the law. I also think it would show a little more class to do that. But I don't think it's so terrible that he's not conceding.
One point: he's not requesting a recount, he's waiting for the canvass to finish. A recount is yet another count. The canvass that's happening would have happened whether or not Massa had conceded.
I'm serious: Massa is risking making a fool of himself, seeming like a petulant hot-head when the odds are so incredibly remote. COME ON! He wheorked so hard to make a name for himself--and has--and all that stuff about the Code of Honor. If he doesn't throw in the towel, and NOW, and in A C L A S S Y W A Y-----he is kaput for the future. What are he and his advisers thinking? The only saving grace-but the damage will have been done--would be for him to pay for well-done, non-frantically-nodding-his-head spots which run around the time Randy is sworn in which take the high road and congratulate him, thank people for having considered him, etc. But I am really concerned and disappointed.
Milo,
I know this will not change your mind, but in Virgina they have new electronic voting machines with no paper trail. Nothing changes there and from my understanding all the ballots are counted there.
In the 29th Congressional District there are still 10,000 ballots to count. One vote can win or lose a race. All the votes need to be counted.
There, now you can move on!
Where or when was this alleged Massa temper tantrum or hot-headedness? I haven't seen anything that will make or break his future.
Also, when I was out talking to people, several proudly told me that they were helping or encouraging their snowbird inlaws or their exchange student children to get an absentee ballot. It was very important to them and they were proud of it. With our dismal voting %'s, I think that we need to make sure we do our absolute best to encourage participation. People believing that their ballot could make a difference is not a bad thing.