The March 20th special election for the State Senate in southeastern Brooklyn just got one big step closer to a resolution earlier today when over a hundred ballots that were alleged to be fraudulent by the Democratic candidate, Lew Fidler, were counted after a judge dismissed his lawsuit last week. The Republican candidate, David Storobin, is now 27 votes ahead.
However, New York State law mandates an automatic hand recount of all of the ballots counted in an election if the final margin is less than 0.5% of the total votes cast, and with over 20,000 ballots in this election, Mr. Storobin’s margin is well, well within that threshold.
So, while Mr. Storobin currently holds the advantage, this election is still far from being over and either candidate has a plausible path to victory.
Ultimately, this elongated process has minimized some of the influence the eventual winner will yield. Unless Governor Cuomo declares an extended legislative session, there won’t be a great number of votes either candidate would be able to cast in Albany before the Legislature adjourns. And, with the district in question being somewhat dismantled in redistricting, whoever wins would be running for reelection in a substantially different district without the typical benefits of incumbency.
Update: The official tally was 3 points more in favor of Mr. Storobin than the unofficial results, which had the candidate up 24.
