Does Frank Padavan Have His Own Katherine Harris?

I can't imagine there being a recount that can equal the epic failure that was Florida in 2000. The way that debacle turned out knocked our democracy at least a few rungs down the ladder. Katherine Harris (and the Supreme Court too) were instrumental in handing the election to George Bush by purging African Americans from the voter rolls and then stopping the count as the margin slimmed down. This is all common knowledge now but one State Senate race in Queens has a lot at stake and the Republicans will do anything it takes to keep Padavan's seat. The question is, how far will Republican Commissioner Judith Stupp go to push the results in her desired corner?

From The NY Times:

In the past, Democrats claim, all such ballots were counted. But this time, they say, the Republican commissioner of the Board of Elections in Queens has ruled that ballots should be invalidated if they do not include the signature or stamp of a poll worker.

That ruling brought a firestorm of criticism from Democratic officials and lawyers, who point out that the Republican commissioner, Judith Stupp, is also employed as the manager of downstate operations for New York State Senate Republicans. She is also a contributor to Mr. Padavan’s campaign.

Ms. Stupp defended her role, saying: “I took an oath to make sure that every legal vote be counted. And I feel that what I’ve done has been honest and fair.” She said she did not think it appropriate to comment on the specifics of the vote-counting process.

Ms. Stupp said that after the initial days of the paper-ballot counting, she stopped attending the sessions, turning over her responsibilities to the chief Republican deputy clerk, Katherine James. When asked whether she would recuse herself from further involvement in the counting, she said, “I honestly don’t see any reason why I should.”

The will of those voters be damned, if there was a poll worker that didn't know what they were doing and did not stamp a ballot, it isn't the fault of the voter. I expect the frivolous and discriminatory challenges from the Padavan campaign, but as far as the people that count the ballots no changes in the system should be made at this time. If the BoE has counted the paper votes of registered voters in the district last time around, it should be the same this time around.

Stupp should have recused herself before this started anyway, as she has two clear conflicts of interest. Padavan would be screaming and shouting if a Gennaro contributor and DSCC operative were in Stupp's position, so if we on the left are ticked off about this it is for the right reasons. I wonder if her actions help Padavan hold on, what plum positions can she look forward to? She might want to give Katherine Harris a call and get some advice. On second thought, nah, nevermind that.