Residents in Queens are going to have to wait longer to learn who the Democratic nominee is for the district attorney’s race.
Before a judge in Jamaica will rule on whether some unscanned ballots are valid or not, over 80,000 previously scanned votes will have to be recounted, according to Jerry Goldfeder, an attorney for district attorney candidate Tiffany Cabán. The recount is most likely to start later this week.
“It was adjourned today,” said Goldfeder on Tuesday about the case to determine the validity of the affidavits. “The judge wants to have the manual recount to go forward before he considered any affidavit ballots.”
Initially, 114 affidavit ballots where in question, but according to Goldfeder there are a few hundred ballots that was in consideration for being tallied.
“It’s a continuing process, but the manual recount is going to go first,” said Goldfeder.
Goldfeder also made sure to clear up any chatter of the Cabán team calling the election rigged.
“That’s ridiculous,” said Goldfeder. “The Cabán campaign is not saying that. We may have disagreements with the board’s rulings, but it seems that the process is moving along smoothly.”
Queens County Democratic Chairman Greg Meeks (D-Jamaica, Far Rockaway) was outside the Board of Elections in Forest Hills with an entourage of county committee members, district leaders, elected officials and labor representatives ensuring constituents that every vote valid vote would be counted.
“I have fought most of my life to make sure that every valid vote would be counted,” said Meeks. “We talk about this all the time – the great diversity of Queens County. Look at the people behind me. To some people who want to come from the outside to tell us what to do in Queens County, you come to Queens County and talk to the people,” he added to cheers surrounded by people from different backgrounds.
Throughout his press conference, Meeks reiterated that he didn’t have a problem with Cabán or her team, but took issue with some of her campaign contributors who were not from Queens or even New York State who may be using the borough’s district attorney race for their own political agenda.
“Throughout last week we have seen misinformation and lies throughout this process,” said Meeks. “We have a duty to uphold our democracy and to not let conspiracy theories or Trump style tactics discredit the integrity of our election process.”
Meeks called for the animosity that has been brewing with the undetermined election to die down because some ballot workers have now been harassed over the past two weeks.
“The Board of Elections and the people in it have worked in a diligent and fair and impartial way,” said Meeks. “No one should be questioned about doing their job well, fairly and efficiently. The fact that we have unnamed campaign sources to suggest otherwise and to spread conspiracy theories is what undermines the integrity of the campaign process in our democracies.”
Meeks suggested that any folks that have issue with the race should base their qualms on actual evidence, which is what the district attorney’s office is about.
“The Board of Elections and our democracy deserves respect from our community and by I bet most of the people making noise don’t come from Queens County, but these folks do!” said Meeks. “Regardless of the outcome, the certified results must be respected by everyone. This is how our democracy works. We all must work together to better Queens’ future. I believe we are all Democrats and we should make sure that Democracy prevails.”
Cabán’s team will continue to work on making sure that every vote gets tabulated.
“Over the coming days and weeks, we will continue to fight in court and at the Board of Elections to make sure Queens voters are not disenfranchised,” according to Cabán’s campaign team. “We remain confident that when all the votes are counted, we will win.”
