Exasperated by a 73-day recount that forced her to miss a week of voting, Sen. Cecilia Tkaczyk is proposing changes to election law that would prevent challenges to affidavit and special ballots. Tkaczyk, a Democrat from Duanesburg, bested George Amedore by 18 votes after a lengthy, court-supervised counting process.
Attorneys for both campaigns challenged nearly 900 absentee and affidavit ballots, some of which were ruled invalid by judges. In Ulster County, Republicans, then Democrats, objected to the ballots of several dozen election workers. They said the ballots were cast before the two-week timeframe prescribed in statute.
“I was appalled to see in my counting process that the election laws were actually being used to disenfranchise voters,” Tkaczyk said. “These were two issues that we fought over in court … democracy stumbled, but justice prevailed.”
Full Article: Capitol Confidential » Tkaczyk writes bills based on her recount.