Just over a month after Election Day, voters in the western end of the Rockaways, Howard Beach, and Ozone Park are still waiting to find out who will represent them in the Assembly next year.
Assemblywoman Stacey Pheffer Amato currently leads her Republican challenger Thomas Sullivan by one vote after a manual recount concluded last week. Amato is seeking re-election to the District 23 seat in south Queens, which she has represented since 2017.
On Tuesday, Dec.13, a state appellate court unanimously agreed with the lower court that 94 absentee ballots are curable and ordered the city Board of Elections to start a process to allow those voters to have their ballots counted.
“We are grateful to the courts for once again agreeing that these are votes from valid voters,” Amato campaign spokesman Matthew Rey said. “These voices will now be heard, and the fact that their votes can now be cured and counted is an important step forward.”
In the ruling by the four judges of the Appellate Division of the New York Supreme Court, the 2nd Judicial Department in Brooklyn wrote the following:
“Each of the 94 absentee ballots was received by the Board with an unsealed ballot affirmation envelope inside a completely sealed outer mailing envelope. Therefore, the defects were curable under Election Law.”
In addition to the 94 curable absentee ballots, there are four to six affidavit ballots that are pending opening by the Board and an additional 13 votes that have been rejected by the Board are being challenged in court.
Sullivan, a Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve and married father of four from Breezy Point, led by 246 votes on election night and has watched his lead evaporate.
He accused Amato of engaging in hardball tactics and smoke screens that have led both Democrats and Republicans to be disgusted with the electoral process.
“Now she’s taking us to court for another 13 votes,” Sullivan told QNS. “Georgia just had 3.2 million people vote in two elections in a month, but they can’t do that here in District 23 where we’ve got just over 32,000 votes and they just prolonged it longer. Too many lawsuits.”
