I have been following the ballot counting, lawsuits and letters being published in various Queens publications surrounding the race for the 11th Senate District seat. Now that all the legitimate ballots have been counted, state Sen. Frank Padavan (R−Bellerose) is the winner.
But until those ballots were counted, there was no certainty. Meanwhile, the Padavan campaign and its letter−writing supporters seem to have forgotten the basic right of every American adult to vote and to have their votes counted. The campaign even went so far as to subpoena half a dozen St. John’s University students to appear in court during finals week. These tactics go against the principles of free elections.
Since the 2000 presidential election results in Florida, we should all have gained a proper respect for the need to count every legitimate vote. Those who would declare a winner before this is done should look inside themselves and ask whether they would have had the same attitude if Padavan were behind by 580 votes.
For now, I congratulate Padavan on his victory. For the future, let us commit ourselves to counting every vote before declaring a winner.
Dan Jacoby
Woodside
