Recount complete, Queens DA primary heads to court
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Borough President Melinda Katz (left) topped public defender Tiffany Cabán by 60 votes after the recount in the Democratic primary for Queens district attorney. The race heads to Queens Supreme Civil Court Wednesday. AP Photo/Mary Altlaffer.
By David Brand
The Board of Elections certified the result of the countywide recount in the Democratic primary for Queens district attorney Monday, closing the long first chapter in the election and setting the stage for a court challenge Wednesday.
Borough President Melinda Katz prevailed in the recount, pulling ahead of public defender Tiffany Cabán by 60 votes; Katz entered the recount leading by 16.
Katz received 34,920 votes to Cabán’s 34,860.
After a brief meeting among the BOE’s commissioners in Manhattan, the New York City BOE sent the vote totals to the state BOE for final certification and publication of the results.
BOE Commissioner Michael Ryan said the meeting was routine, despite the unusual fanfare.
“What you saw here today is what happens after every election. It just so happens that this one is getting particular attention because it’s the only contest left from the June primaries that wasn’t certified,” Ryan said, adding that BOE staff “performed marvelously.”
The contest returns Wednesday to Queens Supreme Court, Civil Term, where Justice John Ingram of Brooklyn will determine whether to open a reported 114 affidavit ballots completed by registered Democrats who did not indicate their party affiliation on the affidavit, or provisional, ballot envelopes when casting their vote.
Ryan told reporters that election observers must now “respect the court process.”
“The court is the final authority,” he added.
Nevertheless, Katz celebrated the recount result and planned to host a victory party at a bar in Forest Hills Monday night.
“This is a great day for the people of Queens, who have waited patiently for the long recount process to conclude,” she said in a statement.
"While it is everyone’s right to avail themselves of the judicial process, I urge all participants in this hard-fought election to come together and join me in beginning the hard work of reforming the criminal justice system in Queens,” she continued. “This is a major moment for this borough, and it will take the support of all its residents to make this effort a success.”
Cabán’s team contends that it is still too early for Katz to declare victory with the result of the affidavit ballots pending.
“Our campaign is fighting to protect Queens voters from being disenfranchised and allow their voices to be heard,” said Cabán’s spokesperson Monica Klein.
Cabán’s election attorney Jerry Goldfeder said “more than a hundred” ballots, including the affidavit ballots and other votes deemed invalid by the BOE during the recount, “will determine the final outcome of this election.”
Goldfeder said the campaign challenged several votes that were invalidated by the BOE during the recount. He said existing case law supports the contention that the ballots discarded for “minor, clerical errors” should actually be counted.
“We will ask the Court to count these valid Cabán votes, and to count the many ballots cast by eligible voters that were invalidated by the BOE because of minor form errors,” Goldfeder said.
Additional reporting by Emma Whitford.
