Corwin (R-NY26) granted court order barring certification of winner

[Newsjock]

Source: Buffalo News

Jane L. Corwin this afternoon obtained a court order from State Supreme Court Justice Russell P. Buscaglia barring a certification of a winner in the special 26th Congressional District race pending a show-cause hearing before him later this week.

The Buffalo News obtained a copy of the show cause order Buscaglia signed this morning based on a petition the Republican candidate filed Monday.

Under the judge's 11-page order, attorneys for Corwin have until Wednesday to serve copies of the court order on the election boards of Erie, Niagara, Genesee, Orleans, Wyoming, Livingston and Monroe counties, their sheriff's departments, the state Board of Elections and her three opponents.

Pending court proceedings before Buscaglia on Thursday at the earliest, the judge also impounded all voting equipment and enjoined the canvass of paper ballots "except as directed by this court" and "temporarily enjoined and restrained from certifying" the winner pending that court hearing.

Read more: http://www.buffalonews.com/incoming/article432430.ece

[livetohike]

1. I guess she thinks she will lose by a close margin

:shrug: I hope she loses in a landslide.

[damntexdem]

7. Or make sure that a Horchun landslide becomes a close margin in her favor.

But how cynical of me to distrust the judge who issued the order. ;-)

[elleng]

2. OK, folks, repugs gonna play hardball with elections henceforth,

Dems MUST DO THE SAME!

[WheelWalker]

3. Agreed.

[aquart]

4. What bloody nerve.

Who is this idiot Buscaglia?

[Pab Sungenis]

5. She learned her lesson from Waukesha county.

The machines and ballots will be impounded until they know how many fake ballots they need to "find."

[davidwparker]

6. +1

[AlinPA]

8. "pending a show-cause hearing"?? What the hell is that? How the hell can the judge

stop an election from being certified? I thought PA was screwed up.

[michaz]

10. I wonder if she "proved" there might be something iffy going on and

she convinced the judge. Just all sounds strange that she can do this before the results are already in.

[onehandle]

9. A sore loser or a sore winner? Hopefully the former. nt

[muriel_volestrangler]

11. Can anyone confirm my interpretation of the story?

It seems to say, to me:

Republicans say the race will be close. So the judge has forbidden the use of voting machines, and enforced paper ballots "except as directed by this court".

I don't know if the counties listed are all the counties in the election, or just some. If they aren't all of them, or if the court does direct the use of voting machines in some areas but not others (and it seems a bit damn late to start making that decision), then this would appear, on the surface, to be potentially biased. If the judge thinks machines are unreliable, so that they might affect the outcome of a close race, then they shouldn't be allowed anywhere in the election.

Or do all the voting machines have paper ballots as part of their record, and he's just saying count those, don't bother with any other counting method?

[mak3cats]

16. Here's the translation:

I'm the Dem party representative for my city (and my beau is one of the Dem voting machine custodians) here in NY-26. This is only the second full election cycle where the new optical scan machines have been used. With the race this close, having one of the candidates file suit for the machines to be impounded is pretty routine (indeed, it was expected this morning before the suit was filed). Impounding the machines simply means that after the polls close, the machines, ballots, memory devices, etc. are shuttered, sealed and rigorously secured with a strong, documented chain of custody made up of members of both political parties.

And since certifying an election usually takes at least two or three weeks (there are absentee ballots and affidavits to consider), having an injunction against certification until this Thursday really doesn't mean anything.

If the race is close enough to trigger a recount, we have actual paper ballots that are scanned, so a hand count of the ballots themselves would likely be completed.

Reports are that turnout is heavier than normal for a special election, but still lower than a general. But we keep the faith!!

[spooky3]

18. thanks

Although I don't trust Republicans, I think it's sensible to request securing the machines as you describe.

[muriel_volestrangler]

19. So this means they're impounded *after* they've done one count?

That would fit with a count having happened already - too fast for it to have been by hand, I think.

OK, in that case, the ruling wasn't that surprising then.

Thanks.

[EC]

12. She doesn't really believe that Dems cheat does she?

If she is thinking of Waukesha, it was the repubs that had all kinds of irregularities with their bags etc.


I hope this means that even HER people can't get to the machines or tapes or ballets. They would be the ones cheating.

[Doctor_J]

13. My prediction:

Lots of petition-signing and harrumphing by the Dems. That constitutes pushback by the 21st Century party of Jefferson & Truman. Nothing will be done about removing the crooked "Justice" Buscaglia from office.

OTOH, what should happen: Winner of the race declare victory tomorrow AM, move to DC, move into the vacant office and begin attending House sessions Thursday. Simultaneously, Cuomo orders the NY AG to begin RICO hearings against Buscaglia, while the good citizens of the Empire state occupy this fucker's office until he's removed.

[brooklynite]

14. Please define your reference to Judge Buscaglia as "crooked".

and point us to any supporting evidence. I can't find any.

[Doctor_J]

17. An aggressive AG could find all sorts of stuff. At the very least

this racketeer will be spending so much time defending himself that he won't be able to engage in any more election thievery.

Please find some evidence that he's NOT crooked.

[Dawson Leery]

15. Seeing that the GOP controls the government/courts in the area.

most likely her friends are going to attempt to steal this election. Bastards!