Tedisco (i.e., the GOP) is fighting tooth and nail to wipe out Democrat Scott Murphy's lead in the election to fill Gillibrand's House seat. This has now entailed a wholly groundless challenge to the absentee ballot cast by Gillibrand herself.
As you'll see in the comment below (by "Kads"), Nate Silver gives Tedisco a one-in-500 chance to turn this thing around. And yet the GOP will fight to win--regardless of the will of the electorate, or the letter (or the spirit) of the law. Perhaps the party plans to take this all the way to SCOTUS, as they no doubt intend to do with Coleman's case. This is just one way in which the GOP subverts democracy, while the Democrats just sit there, twiddling their thumbs. MCM Serving Columbia and Dutchess counties since 1785 Wednesday, April 15, 2009 Gillibrand's vote challenged Murphy still has slight lead over Tedisco By Jamie Larson COLUMBIA COUNTY- In an astounding legal maneuver, the legitimacy of Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand's absentee ballot was challenged by Republican lawyers for congressional candidate James Tedisco Tuesday, at the Columbia County Office Building at 401 State St. in Hudson. Tedisco and his opponent, Democrat Scott Murphy, are in the middle of a too-close-to-call special election to fill Gillibrand's seat in Congress and every vote counts, including that of the woman the candidates wish to replace. Lead lawyer for Tedisco in Columbia County Tuesday, Vinney Messina, challenged the senator's ballot on the grounds that, though she sent in an absentee ballot, she was in Columbia County on Election Day. Both Democratic Board of Elections Commissioner Virginia Martin and Republican Deputy Commissioner Michael Nabozny overruled the challenge, but Gillibrand's ballot was still put aside as a precaution because there will be a court decision on ballot eligibility Wednesday in Dutchess County Supreme Court. Thirty-five other challenges have also been overruled by both party commissioners and have been put in a separate pile for evaluation after today's court ruling. Gillibrand's office responded to the challenge quickly after it heard the news, saying, "The Republicans’ challenge is frivolous and without merit. This is part of their larger attempt to disenfranchise legal Democratic voters and delay the inevitable Democratic victory in the 20th. Every day that the national Republicans waste with their dishonest stalling tactics is another day Upstate New Yorkers are deprived their member of Congress. Sen. Gillibrand looks forward to working with Scott Murphy in Congress to support President Obama's plans to turn this economy around and create good paying jobs." Gillibrand says she had intended to be in Washington, D.C. on the day of the special election for a Senate vote and that is why she requested an absentee ballot. She says the challenge lacks further foundation because, while she was in the 20th Congressional District on Election Day, she was not in Columbia County. Gillibrand has a home on Mt. Merino and is registered to vote in Greenport. The senator's office also pointed to an election law decision on the issue of the challenge. "There was no law that required the actual absence by the voter during the time the polls were open for an absentee ballot to be validly cast. The question was not to consider the voter’s physical capabilities on the day of the election, but rather the voter’s expectations at the time of applying for an absentee ballot." [Sherwood v. Albany County Board of Elections, 265 AD2d 667, 696 NYS2d.287] Along with Gillibrand's vote, 18 Columbia County election districts were counted Tuesday, covering five towns and half the districts in the city of Hudson. Murphy gained another 130 county votes and Tedisco gathered up 72, putting their four-day county total--spanning 13 municipalities--at: Murphy 251, Tedisco 127. Two-hundred and fifty ballots have been challenged, 26 have been voided due to voter error and one was left blank. Tedisco's legal team has cast the vast majority of challenges--36 ballots were challenged in Hillsdale alone. County attorney Daniel Tuczinski will appear in Dutchess County Court 8:30 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. today on the county’s behalf as the counting of ballots continues. According to The Associated Press, the state Board of Elections reports that unofficial counts Tuesday show Murphy with 77,982 votes total and Tedisco with 77,935. Reader Comments The following are comments from the readers. In no way do they represent the view of RegisterStar.com. stonepound wrote on Apr 15, 2009 2:04 AM: " Democracy delayed is democracy denied! " Kads wrote on Apr 15, 2009 11:58 AM: " This election may be too close to call but that doesn't mean the best election forecaster in the US isn't making a prediction. Nate Silver says Tedisco has just a 1 in 500 chance of winning. This sheds some light on why Tedisco is not only challenging every voter who sleeps elsewhere part of the year, but actively delaying the process at every turn. Will keeping us unrepresented as long as possible help him in the rerun vote 16 months away? How will the GOP's big welcome sign to second home owners play out? "WANT YOUR VOTE TO COUNT? VOTE HERE!" " Submit a Comment Registered users: Member ID: *Password: Remember login? (<http://www.registerstar.com/shared-content/userhelp/cookies/index.html>requires cookies) --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to newsfromunderground-unsubscr...@googlegroups.com OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. 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