Many people in New York have written off Jim Gennaro's chances at winning his challenge to Frank Padavan. The main reason local reporters are calling this (almost) over is that Padavan increased his lead to over 600 votes with only 3,000 approximately left to count. Two-thirds of those are challenged ballots and it looks like a few were objected to by Padavan were cast by students at St. John's.
From The NY Times:
If Padavan is challenging the right for college students to vote, I can only imagine who else he's contesting. Now a dozen or so votes will only make a small dent in the vote deficit Gennaro has, but only after all those ballots Padavan is scared to see added to the tally will we truly be able to call the race.The unresolved State Senate contest between Senator Frank Padavan, a Republican, and his Democratic challenger, James F. Gennaro, moves on Tuesday into a Queens courtroom, where nearly a dozen college students have been subpoenaed to verify their residences.
Republican lawyers have challenged the votes of students, mostly from St. John’s University, saying that they filled out affidavit ballots with addresses that were not their permanent residences. In the paper ballot count, Mr. Padavan is leading by about 600 votes, but about 1,000 more ballots remained to be counted and the validity of an additional 2,000 must still be reviewed.[...]Steven H. Richman, the general counsel at the New York City Board of Elections, said that under state law, a student can vote from a polling place near either his or her permanent address or a college address.
“A college student has the option,” Mr. Richman said. “If you’re living on campus, you have the right to register and vote from that district. Or you can register from your parents’ address. You just can’t vote in two places.”
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