Count of paper ballots continues

Slowly but steadily, paper ballots are being counted in an effort to determine who will serve as Nassau County executive next year. As of Wednesday night, incumbent Tom Suozzi trailed his Republican challenger, Ed Mangano, by 219 votes.

There are primarily two types of paper ballots — absentee and affidavit. The affidavit ballots, which total about 1,000, are used by residents who believe they are eligible to vote but are not listed in the poll books.

“There could be a mistake on our part where you are in the system, but weren’t in the book,” said John DeGrace, the Republican county elections commissioner.

Counting the absentee ballots is where the process takes some time. More than 7,000 ballots need to be checked in order for the results of the election to be certified. As of Wednesday, counters were getting close with 6,568 ballots reviewed. A majority left to be counted were from registered Republicans, according to Board of Elections officials.

The back area of the Board of Elections office in Mineola is filled with people every day until 7 p.m., when the counting stops for the night. At each of eight tables, there are two or three Board of Elections employees on one side, and representatives for Suozzi and Mangano on the other. “One Republican, one Democrat,” DeGrace said. “They do it together.”

Scott Cushing, a Mangano representative, said that the first step in the process is checking to see if the signature on the back of the envelope containing the ballot matches that on the voter registration card as well as the absentee ballot application.

John Ryan, a counsel for the Republicans, said they understand that signatures often change as people get older and generally are not challenged. If a signature appears to have improved over time, however, that might be a reason to call the ballot into question.

Ryan noted that both sides have agreed not to challenge any military ballots.

Ballot applications are also scrutinized, and a voter must give a specific reason why he or she was not able to go to the polls on Election Day.