Politics & Government

Vote Count Continues in Deadlocked Races

Absentee and affidavit vote counting in the 89th Assembly and 37th State Senate Districts will likely last until the end of the week, the Westchester County Board of Elections said Wednesday.

There is progress being made in the vote count for the still undecided  and  races, and the Mamaroneck election of village trustee and judge, but not enough to determine a winner within a month of Election Day.

As the calendar flips to December thousands of absentee and affidavit votes remain uncounted between the two races. The Westchester County Board of Elections said Wednesday that it will take until at least Friday to . A mandated three percent audit of the general tally won't be completed until Monday.

As of Tuesday incumbent Robert Castelli was clinging to a 131 vote lead over Democrat Thomas Roach in the 89th Assembly District race, Suzi Oppenheimer led Bob Cohen by 357 votes, Republican Board of Elections Commissioner Doug Colety said Wednesday.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Before counting resumed Wednesday 750 absentee ballots and 1,077 affidavit votes remained to be counted in the Cohen-Oppenheimer race, while 815 absentee and 514 affidavit ballots remained in the Castelli-Roach race, Colety said.

Representatives from both sides have been scrutinizing individual ballots for more than a week, working through the holiday weekend to decide a winner. A judge has been ruling on contested ballots daily in order to move the process along, but as of Wednesday it hasn't been enough to decide a winner in either race.

Find out what's happening in Harrisonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

Once the absentee and affidavit votes have been counted the voting tallies will be complete, Colety said last week. Electronic counting of ballots from "Plan B" machines—machines that are accessible for the handicapped—. All non-affidavit votes cast on Election Day have been included in the current tally.

But a final decision in either race could be delayed by an appeal, which would bring the matter back to court.

"Motions could come from either side," said Colety. "It's not over until it's over."

Unofficial leaders as of Tuesday:

Leader in Contested Races Vote Lead

Uncounted Ballots*

Oppenheimer over Cohen 357 1,827 Castelli over Roach 131 1,329 Source: Westchester County Board of Elections 

* Includes both absentee and affidavit ballots.


Get more local news delivered straight to your inbox. Sign up for free Patch newsletters and alerts.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here