HERKIMER COUNTY ABSENTEE BALLOTS

HERKIMER COUNTY ABSENTEE BALLOTS

Of opening and scanning absentee ballots from last month's republican primary.

With narrow election night margins, and and unusually high number of absentee ballots, those ballots, could decide the family court judge race.

Newschannel 2's joleen ferris reports.

Nat 1:49 ripping open envelopes .

None .

None here, in a 2nd floor conference room of the herkimer county office and courts building, herkimer county board of elections workers ae opening and scanning more than 3x the number of absentee ballots they normally would, thanks to the coronavirus.

8:56 "so we have like 500 permanent absentees.

Shut ins, people who can't get out to vote, medical disabilities, people who are out of the state or out of the country.

So this was quite a bit higher" 1781 republican primary absentee ballots, counted this way for the first time 5:41 "this is the first year we're scanning them from the machines.

Normally there's a lot less ballots and we hand count them.

But we knew there was gonna be a large volume, so we decided to go with the scanable ballots" 6:43 "appears to be going pretty well, but time wise, it's just, there's so many of them it's just gonna take time the first time scanning the ballots.

And, they could decide the herkimer county family court judge race 7:28 "on election night, thad luke was ahead by 93 votes.

We have 1781 absentee ballots to vote, so the race can turn either way" 7:41 "there's also the conservative race for these two potential candidates and that race was separated by ten votes, so, could go either way" mark rose is ahead in that conservative race.

Thad luke will be on the independence line in november, so rose needs to win the republican or conservative primary to stay in the race.

Originally, the election commissioners expected to be done counting by the end of the week.

Now, having made it through about half those 1781 republican ballots today, they say they could finish and have preliminary numbers in this race as soon as tomorrow.

New at six, we'll hear from the candidates.

> wearing a mask in a bank used to be a no-no.

Now it's a requirement.

How one local bank ballots from last month's republican primary.

With narrow election night margins, and and unusually high number ofabsentea take time