Monitors at the Erie County Board of Elections are resuming their count of ballots in the 63rd State Senate primary race between democrats Tim Kennedy and Betty Jean Grant.
Entering the oversight process, Kennedy, the incumbent, held a lead of 91 votes over Grant, the chair of the Erie County Legislature.
The Board is counting absentee and affidavit ballots today. More than 1,100 such ballots have been counted, with about 400 left to tally. Any disputed ballots will be left to the discretion of State Supreme Court Judge Joseph Glownia.
Attorney Terry Connors, who represents Kennedy's re-election campaign, says there are often "inherent flaws" with affidavit votes, which can lead to objections from either side.
"Those are the ones that have to be looked at carefully because there are some inherent flaws. In other words, something occurred that was out of the ordinary on election night," Connors said in a media conference call Tuesday morning.
Connors says vote objections can be raised be either side over numerous issues. Any disputed ballots will be decided by Glownia, who has been appointed to oversee the process last week.
The canvassing process is expected to take a few days. A preliminary result could be announced sometime this week.
The 63rd Senate District covers most of the City of Buffalo, as well as Lackawanna and Cheektowaga.
