16 THE QUEENS COURIER • AUGUST 1, 2019 FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM
Katz attorneys argue Cabán has no case
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
Attorneys from the Queens County
Democratic Party and the Board of
Elections argued in front of a judge on
Wednesday that the campaign for Tiff any
Cabán has no argument in the case to dispute
over 68 affi davits and other objected
ballots.
Aft er hearing the arguments from
Cabán attorney Jerry Goldfeder, Katz
attorney Gerard Sweeney and a Law
Department counsel representing the
BOE, Judge John Ingram pointed out that
the main question at this time is whether
the objections were made within the
proper statute of limitations.
“Th e initial issue is whether or not the
objections are timely,” Ingram said.
Ingram ultimately ruled that court
would adjourn until Tuesday at 10:30
when the judge would review 28 affi davit
ballots at the Board of Elections building
in Forest Hills.
Sweeney railed against the overall
vagueness of Cabán’s objections, stating
that they have made attacks against Katz
and the Democratic Party in the press and
reference inconsistent numbers of ballots
they are fi ghting to have vindicated.
“Th is is a circus, that’s going on here,”
Sweeney said. “Everything they are trying
Attorneys Frank Bolz and Jerry Goldfeder argue in Queens Supreme Court on July 31 at a hearing over
114 affi davit ballots being disputed in the Queens DA primary.
to do is just to distract everyone. Th ey lost
the election fair and square … Instead of
thanking the BOE for their hard work,
they raised a phony set of objections.”
Goldfeder argued that he had dozens of
witnesses who said the BOE poll workers
did not follow guidelines in the handbook
but instructing affi davit voters on
the proper way to fi ll in the information
on the envelope.
Th ere are 17 voided ballots, some of
Photo: Mark Hallum/QNS
which Goldfeder says were erroneously
deemed so, that the attorney for the BOE,
Assistant Corporation Counsel Stephen
Kitzinger, said should have been objected
to during the recount as well as the absentee
ballot count. Goldfeder argued that
they had an ongoing objection already
lodged.
“You have to lodge an objection during
the administrative process, on the record,”
Kitzinger said. “Th e law is clear. You don’t
object, you don’t get into court.”
Goldfeder turned his argument against
poll workers who he claims did little to
make sure affi davit ballots were fi lled out
properly, indicating that is the reason why
28 ballots are missing party affi liation.
“Mr. Sweeney forgot to mention that
poll workers have a procedure … It is
your responsibility to make sure the voter
has completed all entries on the envelope.
Th e poll worker has an administerial
duty, according to the board, to say,
‘Th ere’s something missing here. You have
to fi ll it in,’” Goldfeder said partially quoting
from the manual. “Voters should not
be disenfranchised because of administerial
errors.”
Ingram seemed to lose patience with
Goldfeder as he asked for a specifi c date
that he lodged the ongoing objection.
Goldfeder repeated that he could not
remember when Renee Paradis, another
Cabán attorney, said they raised the continuing
objection on July 3, during the
absentee and affi davit ballot count.
“We were only told they were ruled
invalid; we weren’t given a reason for why
they were ruled invalid,” Paradis said.
“It was the only way we could eff ectively
review the ballots.”
Katz currently holds a 60 vote lead over
Cabán aft er the numbers from the full
recount were certifi ed by the BOE on
Monday.
Queens DA recount ends with 60-vote lead for Katz
BY MARK HALLUM
mhallum@schnepsmedia.com
@QNS
More than a month aft er the polls
closed, the Board of Elections fi nally
declared a winner on Monday in the roller
coaster, nail-biter Democratic primary
for Queens district attorney.
Borough President Melinda Katz was
certifi ed as the victor in the June 25 primary
over her closest rival, public defender
Tiff any Cabán, by just 60 votes. Cabán’s
team is now heading to court seeking to
have counted more than 100 ballots which
the Board of Elections had disqualifi ed for
various discrepancies.
Winning in court seems to be the only
path of victory left for the Cabán campaign
— a stunning reversal of fortune
from the night of June 25, when she celebrated
an apparent win, having emerged
from the primary with an 1,100-vote lead.
Katz, however, refused to concede, insisting
that the Board of Elections count the
thousands of absentee and approved affi -
davit ballots cast in the rates.
Aft er that count took place on July 3, to
the surprise of many, Katz wound up with
a razor-thin 20-vote lead over Cabán. Th at
triggered an automatic recount begun the
following week and ended on July 25, with
the Board of Elections re-examining all
91,000 votes cast in the race. As it turned
out, Katz’s lead grew to a fi nal margin of
60 aft er all the votes had been recounted.
But the Cabán campaign has remained
optimistic in the court siding in their
favor, claiming the BOE’s decision gives
them the opportunity to pursue the vindication
of over 100 affi davit and objected
ballots in court on July 31.
Michael Ryan, the executive director of
the BOE, defended the determinations of
the board, claiming they will also be in
court with the Cabán campaign only to
clarify matters, not to making any arguments
for their process.
“Essentially this litigation is really in
some respects a one-sided aff air, in that
the party that has a claim will make it.
And the court will make a determination
based on the law. We will simply be there
represented by the law department to say
what we did, not to advocate a position,”
Ryan said. “So it’s not really an adversarial
circumstance the way normal litigation
will be.”
At a meeting at the Manhattan offi ce,
the board thanked the work of BOE
staff from the Queens offi ce who spent
10 days counting 91,000 ballots in the a
facility in Middle Village before sending
the their certifi cation to Albany.
The Cabán campaign has been
attempting to have up to 114 affi davit
ballots they believe were erroneously disqualifi
ed because of what attorney Jerry
Goldfeder has referred to as “hyper-technicalities.”
But the court hearing has been postponed
from earlier dates awaiting a certifi
ed result from the BOE.
“Today’s certifi cation by the Board of
Elections is a formality that will allow
our campaign to move forward with its
eff orts to restore wrongly invalidated
ballots in court. Our campaign is fi ghting
to protect Queens voters from being
disenfranchised and allow their voices
to be heard. Eligible voters’ ballots must
not be disqualifi ed due to the BOE’s failure
to provide them with adequate assistance
and guidance at polling sites,” said
campaign spokesperson Monica Klein.
“Until then, the outcome of this election
remains undetermined. We once
again urge the Katz campaign to join our
eff orts to protect voting rights in Queens
as we head to court.”
According to the offi cial results from
the BOE, votes for Katz totaled 34,920
while Cabán took 34,860. Th e numbers
also show that 17 ballots were voided.
“Th is is a great day for the people of
Queens, who have waited patiently for
the long recount process to conclude.
Today, the Board of Elections certifi ed
that we have won the campaign for the
Democratic primary for Queens District
Attorney,” Katz said. “While it is everyone’s
right to avail themselves of the judicial
process, I urge all participants in this
hard-fought election to come together
and join me in beginning the hard work
of reforming the criminal justice system
in Queens.”
Gregory Lasak came in third place
with 13,048 votes.
Editor’s note: Th is story was updated to
refl ect edits made in the initial draft that,
due to technical issues, were not processed
when the story went live earlier today.
We regret any confusion which may have
resulted.
Photos: Mark Hallum/QNS
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