[BwayDems] Rangel Election Update

[curtisdems at aol.com]

Better news for Charlie Rangel. The Board of Elections finally released its unofficial machine vote count of all 506 election districts in the 13th CD. Charlie won the voting machines by 802 votes, an almost exactly 2% margin. Counting of the paper ballots will begin on Thursday.  Validation, meaning, is the person who submitted an Affidavit Ballot actually a registered Democrat in the 13th CD, is almost complete; only about 39% of the approximately 2500 Manhattan Affidavit ballots are valid, and in the Bronx, which Charlie unexpectedly won, the valid percentage is even lower. The valid ballots roughly mirror the overall breakdown of the electorate, meaning they are not disproportionately from Washington Heights, which Adriano carried.  It would therefore appear that Rangel's lead will hold.

I have many thoughts on many aspects of this election: the idea that the Associated Press could somehow "declare" a winner a few hours after the polls closed, a very sloppy and delayed count by the BOE, baseless charges by Espaillat campaign operatives (but not by the Senator himelf.) However, let's wait for the final count before engaging in any post mortems. For now, let's rejoice that this agonizing process is almost over, and in the fact that Charlie Rangel is the likely winner.

Curtis Arluck
District Leader

 
 
 
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