Suffolk Count of Absentee Ballots Starts Nov. 16 and Could Flip Some Earlier Results

Suffolk County will begin counting absentee ballots on Nov. 16, with the outcome of several local races to be determined. The count is expected to take several days.

With two races, the US Congressional Third District, and the 5th State Senate District, both stretching into Nassau County, the results will be tabulated at different times, with Nassau beginning its count Tuesday.

Those races could well be determined by the absentee vote, as will the 12th Assembly and 10th Assembly districts.

Both the 12th, with Democrat Michael Marcantonio competing with Republican Keith Brown to fill the vacant seat,  and the 10th, with incumbent Democrat Steve Stern locked in a tight race with Republican Jamie Silvestri, showed Republican leads before the absentee tally.  Brown had 30,638 votes or 57.20 of the total; Marcantonio had 22,908 or 42.7 percent of the vote. But the county Board of Elections said that as of Friday, 14,008 absentee ballots had been returned, with a strong Democratic advantage. Of the 14,008 votes received, 6,575 came from Democratic voters, 3,040 from Republicans and another 3,601 unaffiliated.

Marcantonio is betting on those absentee ballots, with his campaign saying, “We are eagerly awaiting the counting of the absentee ballots for the 12th assembly district. Given the data that we have seen thus far about composition of voter registration, and trends in counties similar to Suffolk County, we believe that Michael will be able to win the necessary votes in order to become the first Democrat to represent this area of Long Island in over 50 years. We are confident that the voters of the 12 assembly district not only recognized Michael’s superior knowledge of the issues or his superior dedication to the community, but also his superior character.”

For his part, Brown focused on his supporters. “I am extremely humbled for the support of my friends, family and the leadership, as well as the committee people, my supporters and campaign staff,” he said. “I am truly blessed to be surrounded by so many wonderful people who were willing to support me. Every vote is important and should be counted. I am very thankful for the vote count thus far and I am confident that when all the votes are tallied we will finish on top.”

In the 10th District, 56 votes gave Silvestri the lead over Stern at the close of voting. But as of Friday, 8,447  Democratic  and 3,253 Republican absentees had been received, along with 4,108 unaffiliated.

In the 5th State Senate District, Huntington Town Councilman Ed Smyth had a lead of 34,575 or 55.4 percent over Democratic incumbent Jim Gaughran, with 27,132 or 43.51 percent of the vote. Of the 18,860 absentee ballots received in Suffolk, 9,126 came from Democratic voters, 3987 from Republican, and 4,807 from unaffiliated. Nassau County numbers were not immediately available.

While Republican challenger George A.D. Santos was leading US Rep.Tom Suozzi on Election Night, 52,117 to 36,112 votes, outstanding absentee ballots in Suffolk favor the Democrat, 15,047 to 6,624 with 7,868 unaffiliated. Absentee figures from Nassau weren’t immediately available.

 

Suffolk County absentee figures are based on Board of Election numbers as of Friday.

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