Posted on 09/22/2002 6:10:32 AM PDT by Behind Liberal Lines
GENEVA NY- He is behind by more than 2,000 votes and there are only 132 left to be counted. Walrath will still be on the ballot Nov. 5, though, on the Conservative Party line.
Incumbent Rep. Sherwood Boehlert of New Hartford led Walrath on primary night, Sept. 10, by a vote of 18,726 to 17,238, and picked up another 1,313 votes this week as election officials in the 11 counties in the district opened absentee, military and affidavit ballots. Officials were required to wait one week after the primary to begin opening the ballots.
All ballots in 10 of those counties have now been opened; the exception is Broome County, where an optical scanner that counts the votes broke down. Board of Elections employees in Binghamton said they expected the machine to be fixed Friday and hoped to have a final tally Monday. All results are unofficial until they are certified by the state Board of Elections, which must meet a Sept. 30 deadline.
The newly formed 24th Congressional District includes the city and town of Geneva and all of Seneca County. It also includes all of Chenango, Cortland and Herkimer counties and parts of Broome, Cayuga, Oneida, Otsego, Tioga and Tompkins counties.
Elections officials in eight counties tallied their paper ballots Wednesday, broadening Boehlert's lead by another 550 votes. Cortland and Tompkins counties added another 120 and 64 votes, respectively, after Wednesday.
Also running for the seat are Kathleen Peters of Waterloo, on the Right to Life Party line; and Mark Dunau of Hancock, Green Party, who were unopposed in the primary. There is no Democratic candidate.
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