Rep. Buerkle, Dem candidate agree ballots should be impounded in close NY race

Rep. Ann Marie Buerkle (R-N.Y.) and her Democratic challenger, Dan Maffei, agree that all ballots should be impounded once voting ends today, in anticipation of needing to closely count votes in what could be one of the closest elections in the country.

The Syracuse Post-Standard reported that Maffei's campaign requested the impounding of ballots, and that Buerkle's campaign agreed to the request.

Representatives of both campaigns debated the issue before the state Supreme Court on Monday afternoon. But according to the Post-Standard, lawyers for relevant boards of election objected to the request and said it was too early to make any decision to impound ballots. The judge also asked why a court order was needed before the election was held.

By the end of the meeting, the judge and the two campaigns agreed that election materials will be kept in the "secure possession" of the election boards once the election ends, and further steps could be decided a week from today, on Nov. 13.

In 2010, it took three weeks to decide that Buerkle defeated Maffei by just 648 votes, the Post-Standard said.

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