By JACOB GERSHMAN
A brewing recount battle over three contested state Senate races may drag into January and potentially throw a wrench into Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo's first weeks in office.Reuters
Last week's election left Republicans in control of at least 30 seats next year and Democrats with 29 seats. Depending on the final outcomes of those races, either party could wind up controlling the 62-seat chamber next year or they could be splitting power.
The ultimate makeup of the Senate may not be known for months, or even by Mr. Cuomo's first month into the job, leaving the chamber in a state of limbo and complicating the next governor's ability to get a head start with budget negotiations and other priorities.
Senate Democrats are pressing for a full recount of two races for seats defended by their incumbents: one in the Buffalo region between Democratic Sen. Antoine Thompson and Republican challenger Mark Grisanti and one in Nassau County between Democrat Craig Johnson and Republican Jack Martins.
The two parties are also contesting the results of a race in Westchester, between Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer and Republican Bob Cohen.
While it's unlikely that the election disputes will carry into early spring and approach the April 1 deadline for passage of Mr. Cuomo's first state budget, they could easily spill into January.
Such uncertainty could make it more difficult for Mr. Cuomo to move quickly on campaign promises like capping state spending and local property taxes, or legalizing gay marriage. It could also delay confirmations of his commissioners and stall early budget talks.
"I see it very difficult to convene the Legislature if three members have yet to be seated," said Tom Libous, a high-ranking Republican senator from Binghamton. "If we're still counting votes in January, that would be unfortunate."
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment.
In each of the three disputed races, fewer than 1,000 votes—less than a single percentage point—currently separate candidates. But thousands of ballots—including absentee voters and so-called affidavit voters whose registry is under dispute—have yet to be counted.
In the next two weeks, local election officials will tally the remaining ballots and conduct random audits of a small percentage of the electronic voting machines.
Jerry H. Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer, said he expects that state courts would approve a full recount if audits of the machines detect discrepancies large enough to cast doubt on an outcome.
A recount would be time-consuming, requiring election officials to pore over as many as 60,000 to 90,000 ballots in each race and sort out all the legal questions related to the new voting machines.
For instance, it's unclear if voters who didn't fill in the ovals next to the names on the ballot, but instead wrote check marks or drew circles, would be counted.
"Our objective is simple—it's a full, fair and complete count of all votes through whatever process gets us there," said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats.
Mr. Goldfeder, the election lawyer, said the courts and the Board of Elections could speed up the process, ordering a round-the-clock recount and expediting responses to attorney objections.
"It can be done quickly," he said. "It's so important that the courts ought to take the bull by the horns."
Mr. Cuomo, talking to reporters while attending a legislative conference in Puerto Rico on Monday, didn't address the recount issue. But should the Senate end up tied 31 to 31, he said he would authorize his incoming lieutenant governor, Robert Duffy, to cast a tie-breaking vote to select a Senate president, who would have influence over the day-to-day operations of the chamber.
The constitution doesn't allow lieutenant governors to break ties on final legislation but permits intervention on procedural matters, amendments, and other nonlegislative issues, according to one legal expert, Bennett Liebman, director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School.
"I don't want to get into the legal technicalities of it, but the lieutenant governor would be a tie-breaking vote in leadership selection if it came to that," Mr. Cuomo said. "But let's count the votes first, let's find out who won first, and then we'll figure out a strategy to deal with it."
Mr. Libous said he disagreed with Mr. Cuomo's interpretation of the law, saying Republicans would challenge an attempt by the lieutenant governor to decide a vote on leadership.
"We don't believe he can break a tie on leadership," Mr. Libous said.
Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo
Last week's election left Republicans in control of at least 30 seats next year and Democrats with 29 seats. Depending on the final outcomes of those races, either party could wind up controlling the 62-seat chamber next year or they could be splitting power.The ultimate makeup of the Senate may not be known for months, or even by Mr. Cuomo's first month into the job, leaving the chamber in a state of limbo and complicating the next governor's ability to get a head start with budget negotiations and other priorities.
Senate Democrats are pressing for a full recount of two races for seats defended by their incumbents: one in the Buffalo region between Democratic Sen. Antoine Thompson and Republican challenger Mark Grisanti and one in Nassau County between Democrat Craig Johnson and Republican Jack Martins.
The two parties are also contesting the results of a race in Westchester, between Democrat Suzi Oppenheimer and Republican Bob Cohen.
While it's unlikely that the election disputes will carry into early spring and approach the April 1 deadline for passage of Mr. Cuomo's first state budget, they could easily spill into January.
Such uncertainty could make it more difficult for Mr. Cuomo to move quickly on campaign promises like capping state spending and local property taxes, or legalizing gay marriage. It could also delay confirmations of his commissioners and stall early budget talks.
"I see it very difficult to convene the Legislature if three members have yet to be seated," said Tom Libous, a high-ranking Republican senator from Binghamton. "If we're still counting votes in January, that would be unfortunate."
A spokesman for Mr. Cuomo declined to comment.
In each of the three disputed races, fewer than 1,000 votes—less than a single percentage point—currently separate candidates. But thousands of ballots—including absentee voters and so-called affidavit voters whose registry is under dispute—have yet to be counted.
In the next two weeks, local election officials will tally the remaining ballots and conduct random audits of a small percentage of the electronic voting machines.
Jerry H. Goldfeder, a veteran election lawyer, said he expects that state courts would approve a full recount if audits of the machines detect discrepancies large enough to cast doubt on an outcome.
A recount would be time-consuming, requiring election officials to pore over as many as 60,000 to 90,000 ballots in each race and sort out all the legal questions related to the new voting machines.
For instance, it's unclear if voters who didn't fill in the ovals next to the names on the ballot, but instead wrote check marks or drew circles, would be counted.
"Our objective is simple—it's a full, fair and complete count of all votes through whatever process gets us there," said Austin Shafran, a spokesman for the Senate Democrats.
Mr. Goldfeder, the election lawyer, said the courts and the Board of Elections could speed up the process, ordering a round-the-clock recount and expediting responses to attorney objections.
"It can be done quickly," he said. "It's so important that the courts ought to take the bull by the horns."
Mr. Cuomo, talking to reporters while attending a legislative conference in Puerto Rico on Monday, didn't address the recount issue. But should the Senate end up tied 31 to 31, he said he would authorize his incoming lieutenant governor, Robert Duffy, to cast a tie-breaking vote to select a Senate president, who would have influence over the day-to-day operations of the chamber.
The constitution doesn't allow lieutenant governors to break ties on final legislation but permits intervention on procedural matters, amendments, and other nonlegislative issues, according to one legal expert, Bennett Liebman, director of the Government Law Center at Albany Law School.
"I don't want to get into the legal technicalities of it, but the lieutenant governor would be a tie-breaking vote in leadership selection if it came to that," Mr. Cuomo said. "But let's count the votes first, let's find out who won first, and then we'll figure out a strategy to deal with it."
Mr. Libous said he disagreed with Mr. Cuomo's interpretation of the law, saying Republicans would challenge an attempt by the lieutenant governor to decide a vote on leadership.
"We don't believe he can break a tie on leadership," Mr. Libous said.
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