The campaign of former Rep. Claudia Tenney, a Republican trying to reclaim the Central New York seat she lost two years ago, says Democratic Rep. Anthony Brindisi’s call for a ballot recount in counties across the district places election officials in danger.
It’s the latest vote-counting twist in New York’s 22nd Congressional District, where the lead has seesawed between Tenney and Brindisi, who won the seat in the 2018 Democratic wave.
The Tenney campaign made the coronavirus assertion after a Madison County Board of Elections employee tested COVID positive. The campaign says the Brindisi campaign wants to continue to recount disputed ballots, which will cause election officials to work in “cramped” conditions.
“It is unfortunate that Anthony Brindisi is seeking to put elections staff at risk by packing people into cramped indoor spaces to further his electoral prospects after spending the entire campaign season on his coronavirus high horse — refusing to do ‘dangerous’ public events or greet voters in-person,” Tenney campaign spokesman Sean Kennedy told the Washington Examiner. “Now that it suits his ambitions, Brindisi is cavalier about the risk of COVID. Hypocrisy much?”
On election night, Brindisi was behind Tenney by 28,422 votes based on in-person ballots received during early voting and on Election Day. However, nearly 60,000 mail-in ballots were also cast, which cut Tenney’s lead down to a mere 100 votes after ballots were counted, causing both campaigns to lawyer-up and go to court.
According to Madison County Board of Elections Commissioner Mary Egger, one employee tested positive for COVID-19 in their office. The county completed its recanvass of the absentee ballots and affidavits. The results were later submitted to the court.
“We’re such a small office. At this point in time, we could really do it with the five of us, and then maybe even the four of us, and so, potentially, it has no impact,” Egger told the Washington Examiner. “But if there was another person to test positive, that would definitely make our jobs harder for sure.”
The Washington Examiner reached out to the Brindisi campaign and is waiting on a response.
A judge will rule on disputes to over 2,000 absentee and affidavit ballots. Presently, Tenney is leading the recount contest by just 12 votes. Along with the slim margin, the absentee ballot count has been overwhelmed by mistakes made by election officials.
Of the 345 ballots reviewed by Madison County, 213 were rejected by the board and 132 were challenged, mainly as a result of having no identifiable markings on the ballots.
