In the district, Republican candidate Claudia Tenney led by 12 votes over Democrat incumbent Anthony Brindisi. The newly found votes may decide the result of the election.
Gordon said election officials found 44 valid ballots, with 11 ballots not cast by registered voters. He’s advised the county’s Board of Elections to secure the ballots and keep them unopened in their offices.
“Those ballots were apparently mislaid and never counted,” Gordon wrote in an email to Justice Scott J. DelConte.
On Election Day, Tenney led Brindisi by more than 28,000 votes, with a 10 percent lead and the majority of votes counted. But after counting absentee and affidavit ballots, the margin shrunk to 12 votes.
Gordon asked DelConte for instruction regarding the ballots, as DelConte told the 8 counties in the district not to modify the votes they submitted on Monday. Herkimer County had corrected its total on Sunday by adding 10 more votes to Brindisi and 35 more to Tenney.