Political Grapevine
by Bret Baier
FoxNews.com
Thursday, November 12, 2009
Not Over Yet
More than a week after the voting, there are questions about who really won in the special election for New York’s 23rd Congressional District. Conservative candidate Doug Hoffman conceded to Democrat Bill Owens late on election night, after receiving what turned out to be inaccurate vote counts. Owens was sworn into the House of Representatives Friday, then Saturday cast a crucial vote in favor of the health care reform bill.
But a Syracuse newspaper reports re-canvassing in the district shows the race has tightened in Hoffman’s favor — he trails by just 3,000 votes. That means the election will be decided by roughly 10,000 absentee ballots. The state Board of Elections has not certified the election yet.
John Conklin, communications director for the New York Board of Elections told The Post-Standard: “All ballots will be counted and if the result changes, Owens will have to be removed.”
