Bishop campaign to ask judge to order full recount

Rep. Tim Bishop's campaign Monday will try to ask a Suffolk judge to order a full hand recount in his election, which unofficial returns show him trailing Republican Randy Altschuler by 383 votes, Bishop officials said Sunday.

Suffolk Democratic chairman Richard Schaffer said 38 percent of the 1st Congressional District's 460 election districts reported numbers by phone to the Board of Elections on Election Day that were different from numbers recorded by voting machines.

The initial elections board returns showed Bishop (D-Southampton) leading the race by 3,461 votes out of 181,043 cast. At least 9,901 absentee ballots remain yet to be counted.

"We want to make sure that people have confidence in whoever is elected," Schaffer said. "The only way to do that is if you hand count all the ballots."

Both Schaffer - who spoke after meeting at Bishop's Coram campaign headquarters with Bishop, Brookhaven Democratic chairman Jon Schneider and officials from the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee - and Altschuler's spokesman said they have found no evidence of new voting machines malfunctioning.

Altschuler spokesman Rob Ryan said there may be no need for the full hand recount Bishop's team will seek. "As far as I can figure out . . . everything at this point is a human error," he said.

The National Republican Campaign Committee, which has sent "recount teams" to several districts, including one upstate, will decide by Tuesday whether one is needed to support Altschuler, a spokesman said. Altschuler, who spent at least $2.5 million of his own money on the race, Sunday asked supporters for funds to help his postelection legal effort.

Bishop sent a similar plea to supporters Saturday, asking to raise $25,000 by Monday.

The human-error explanation for the shift in numbers did not stop Suffolk Democrats from calling for all ballots to be hand-counted. Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Wading River), whose deficit to Suffolk Legis. Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) went from 40 to 890 votes, issued a statement saying "the accuracy of these machines is untested."

Alessi's attorneys will also seek a hand recount Monday, Schaffer said. Losquadro did not return phone messages.

Meanwhile, Monday in Yaphank the Suffolk Board of Elections will begin a state-mandated audit of 3 percent of the county's voting machines to determine if the vote count recorded by the machines matches the result of a hand-count of ballots fed into the machine. Board of Elections officials, who declined to comment, expect the process to last most of this week.

And in Nassau, elections officials are planning to count an unknown number of emergency ballots in Mineola beginning Wednesday. That process will delay until Nov. 17 Nassau's 3 percent audit. State Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) trails Mineola Mayor Jack Martins by 415 votes in a race that could determine which party controls the state Senate.

Thomas Garry, the Democratic election attorney for Johnson and Bishop, said Martins' margin is small enough that a small error could swing the election and all votes should be hand-counted.

John Ryan, elections attorney for the Nassau GOP, said he will resist a handcount, saying, "We are going to not agree to it unless there is a reason to do it. You don't just do it because the other side feels like it."

The three close races

1st Congressional District:

Republican Randy Altschuler leads Rep. Tim Bishop (D-Southampton) by 383 votes with at least 9,901 absentee ballots outstanding.

7th Senate District:

Mineola Mayor Jack Martins leads state Sen. Craig Johnson (D-Port Washington) by 415 votes with at least 3,383 absentee ballots outstanding.

1st Assembly District:

Suffolk Legis. Dan Losquadro (R-Shoreham) leads Assemb. Marc Alessi (D-Wading River) by 890 votes with at least 2,545 absentee ballots outstanding.

How did the Suffolk

vote totals change?

Democratic and Republican officials each say that poll workers read the wrong vote totals over the phone to the Suffolk Board of Elections on election night. Suffolk Democratic Chairman Richard Schaffer said there were reporting errors in 38 percent of the 1st Congressional District's 460 election districts. It is not clear why there were rampant problems reporting vote totals to board headquarters.

What happens next?

In Suffolk: Board of elections officials will begin a state-mandated 3 percent audit of its voting machines today while attorneys for Bishop and Alessi are expected to go to court asking judges to order a hand-recount of all paper ballots.

In Nassau: Board officials on Wednesday will begin counting an unknown number of emergency ballots cast on Election Day but uncounted because machines malfunctioned. Nassau's 3 percent audit is due to begin Nov. 17.

Will there be recounts?

In New York State, only a judge can order a hand-recount of cast ballots. In Suffolk, Democratic officials are planning to file legal paperwork asking for a recount today. Nassau officials expect to do so as well but have yet to reveal their timeline.