FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JULY 18, 2019 • THE QUEENS COURIER 17
VOTE BY VOTE IN DA RACE
Recount gets rolling with frontrunners sparring over valid ballots
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Aft er nearly a week of just sorting over
91,000 ballots, the recount phase has
fi nally begun in Democratic primary for
Queens district attorney.
Monday morning saw close to 60 people
Katz spends big on PR, while Caban funds team of attorneys
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
If one thing has become clear in the
recent round of fi lings with the Board of
Elections in the Queens district attorney
race, it’s that the two frontrunners seem
to be placing their chips on much diff erent
strategies in their post-primary battle.
While Tiff any Cabán has raised over
$203,000 between July 1 and 11 alone,
the majority of her campaign’s spending
has gone toward her two lawyers, Jerry
Goldfeder and Renee Paradis. Melinda
Katz, however, continues to pour hundreds
of thousands into political strategists
and public relations fi rms.
Filings logged with the BOE show that
Cabán has so far paid Goldfeder $40,000
and Paradis $30,000 as they aid her eff ort
to not only oversee the recount, but guide
a litigation eff ort in Queens Supreme
Court to validate up to 114 affi davit ballots
rejected by the BOE.
Within the last month alone, Connective
Strategies received over $115,500 from the
Katz campaign and Red Horse Strategies
was paid out $273,000. Th is is on brand
with pre-primary fi lings that showed the
Katz campaign had spent over $600,000
on services from Red Horse, a fi rm frequently
used by candidates in Queens
and even more frequently by candidates
with the backing of the Queens County
Democratic Party.
Both groups have accused the other
attempting to undermine the recount in
one form or another, with Katz and Queen
Democratic Party Chair, Congressman
Gregory Meeks, calling dialog from the
Cabán campaign an ongoing attempt to
disenfranchise black voters and discredit
the BOE.
“Th is election is far from over, with many
valid votes left to be counted. In the days
ahead, the manual recount will yield potentially
hundreds of additional votes that
were not previously captured by voting
machines and we will fi ght to make sure all
valid votes are counted,” said Daniel Lumer,
Cabán campaign spokesman. “At the same
time, our team is prepared to move ahead
in court to restore the ballots of dozens of
eligible Democratic voters who are at risk
of being disenfranchised. It’s disappointing
that the Katz campaign has repeatedly lied
about these eff orts while refusing to agree
in court that every legitimate vote must be
counted. Our team is making every eff ort
to protect the voting rights of all eligible
Democrats across Queens, and we urge the
Katz campaign to do the same.”
Th e two campaigns met in court on July
9 for a judge to reach a decision on the
114 affi davit sealed ballots rejected by the
BOE, but the court was adjourned until
the recount had concluded.
Katz attorney Frank Bolz has charged
that the Cabán eff ort to redeem certain
affi davits in court was an attempt to cherry
pick votes based on neighborhood.
“Th e Cabán camp has worked to undermine
faith in the electoral system since
Election Night, and we trust that it will
not attempt to do so as this crucial process
begins,” Matthew Rey, a Katz spokesman,
said on Sunday. “Th e recount process
is by nature a slow and meticulous
one, with multiple checks and balances.
It must run its course until every legally
valid vote is counted.”
at the BOE facility in Middle Village
fl ipping through ballots and watchers
tallying for either Borough President
Melinda Katz or Tiff any Cabán. Both
campaigns told the media on Sunday
and Monday that they wanted every vote
counted; Katz’s team said as much during
a Sunday conference call with reporters,
and Cabán’s attorney echoed those sentiments
at a July 15 press conference outside
the BOE facility.
But Katz’s campaign threw the fi rst
punch with attorney Frank Bolz objecting
to one ballot that had a distinguishing
mark. Th e ballot, a vote for Cabán,
was deemed void by BOE staff and placed
in an “objected” folder.
By Wednesday, July 17, workers in the
Democratic Queens district attorney primary
recount had not only been indefatigable,
but also made strides that leave
them believing the full manual canvas
will be done within the span of two
weeks.
Originally, the recount was estimated
to require about 15 days for completion.
But the Board of Elections fi nished
Tuesday night with 22 percent of ballots
taken into account.
As far as objections go, workers for
both Tiff any Cabán and Melinda Katz say
there has been any confl ict in terms of
which ballots should be voided.
One source told QNS that a ballot had
been voided because the voter had written
a paragraph off to the side of the
ballot criticizing Cabán as a socialist,
which both groups not only agreed was
the proper step but served as one of the
lighter moments in an otherwise contentious
race.
Th is worker reviews ballots in Middle
Village on July 17.
In the 24th Assembly District, represented
by Assemblyman David Weprin
and containing over 90 election districts,
Katz had the clear advantage over Cabán.
An accounting attorney “with the county
organization” overseeing the tally for
Katz, however, told QNS that Gregory
Lasak had damaged the borough president’s
numbers in the district.
Katz won the 24th AD with 1,968 votes
over Cabán’s 1,197, though the BOE has
not offi ciating any numbers at this point.
Th is is only an advancement of 116
votes for the borough president from the
election night results in this AD, which
placed Katz at 1,852 and Cabán at 1,175.
Th e margin in this district only changed
by a total of 94 votes from 677.
Th ere were plenty of indications that
people might not understand how votes
would be counted. For example, one person
penciled in Republican candidate
Daniel Kogan in the closed Democratic
primary.
Cabán fi nished primary night on June
25 with 1,100 votes ahead of Katz, but
aft er a count absentee ballots the following
week the BOE stated that Katz had
taken the lead by 20.
Th is was then reduced to 16 by several
affi davits that had been redeemed aft er
previously being invalidated by the BOE.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
A BOE worker at the Middle Village facility taking stock of ballots on July 15.
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
Queens DA Recount
/WWW.QNS.COM
link
link
link
link
