Syracuse, N.Y. -- The hand recount to determine the winner of the state Senate race between John Mannion and Rebecca Shiroff will continue into next week.
The recount in New York’s 50th District is the biggest in Onondaga County history. Mannion entered the recount with a 51-vote lead, small enough to trigger an automatic recount.
As of Friday evening the Onondaga County Board of Elections has recounted 69,888 of 95,104 ballots cast. It is hoping to complete its portion of the recount next Tuesday.
Board of Elections officials are counting ballots from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. each weekday.
The Oswego County Board of elections had counted 8,020 ballots through Wednesday. It declined to provide the number of ballots it counted on Thursday and Friday.
Oswego County Democratic Elections Commissioner Laura Brazak said on Friday that Oswego was focused on certifying its initial count in order to meet a state deadline. She said Oswego would provide updated numbers on the recount on Monday.
Based on the pace from its first two days, Oswego could finish its recount late next week.
National experts have said that recounts usually end in both candidates adding votes as election officials count ballots where preferred candidates were circled or checked. It’s unlikely the extra votes would skew toward one candidate over another.
Even after the hand recount is completed it’s unlikely that a winner will be known immediately.
The recount process has allowed lawyers for both candidates to object to ballots based on issues like identifying marks or torn ballots. Those ballots could eventually be ruled out by a judge.
With such a small gap between the candidates, the decision on whether to reject them could determine the winner. The determination will eventually be made by State Supreme Court Justice Scott DelConte.
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