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November 13, 2009

Essex County still has about 585 absentee ballots to count

<img src="/homepage/images_image_276103054" alt="&#149;">&nbsp;&nbsp;Board of Elections has 585 votes to count in DA race

By KIM SMITH DEDAM

ELIZABETHTOWN — Essex County election commissioners would not release official results from the ongoing manual count of absentee ballots in the District Attorney race.

By 5 p.m. Friday, the county's total 266 permanent, affidavit and emergency ballots had been counted.

There are still 573 one-time absentee ballots and 12 military votes left to be counted, starting Monday, said Democratic Election Commissioner David Mace.

"We cannot release information on a partial count," he said.

The process could extend through the week, said Essex County Attorney Dan Manning.

Teams of attorneys reviewed each tally sheet and looked over each vote for District Attorney, keeping track of their own client's tally.

Attorney James Long, representing District Attorney Julie Garcia, who ran for reelection on the Democratic line, said he spotted "no pattern and no change" in ballot count.

"There were only two or four ballots one way or the other."

Long estimated they have challenged a total 15 ballots, 10 of which remain uncounted.

Legal challenges included concern with ballots showing extraneous or errant marks.

The status of those votes will ultimately be decided by Supreme Court Justice Robert Muller sometime next week.

Attorney Paul DerOhannesian, II, representing District Attorney-elect Kristy Sprague, who ran on the Republican Party line, said affidavit absentee ballots were cast by voters who "showed up at the polling place and perhaps their name was not in the poll book, or perhaps they have moved into a different district. In some situations, they were not registered at all."

Matt Masterson, campaign consultant for Sprague, said she picked up 30 previously uncounted votes.

Sprague had picked up 63 votes in Thursday's count, while Garcia got 61.

Sprague won by 75 votes on Election Day, 6,053 to 5,978 for Garcia.

The absentee count process moved methodically, albeit slowly, Friday, but attorneys for both sides complimented Essex County election commissioners for working very well together.

Attorneys for both Sprague and Garcia requested photocopies of initial applications to match up with each absentee ballot, Manning said.

"They are going to compare names to actual ballots."

Boxes of the absentee applications were made ready for each side by the end of the day Friday.

The count resumes Monday, with extra officials set to tally other elections, including the District 23 Congressional race.

Mace and acting Republican Commissioner Patti Doyle will continue working on DA absentee ballots with oversight from attorneys.

Final counts from county elections, including supervisor's races Town of Essex and Crown Point, were not finalized Friday either.

Mace said Monday is the last day for military ballots to arrive in the mail and still count.

E-mail Kim Smith Dedam at: kdedam@pressrepublican.com

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