The scene may not be as dramatic, and we’re a long way from Florida circa 2000, but here in Brooklyn another recount process is underway.
Only 20 votes separate Democratic district leader hopefuls Lincoln Restler and Warren Cohn in the 50th Assembly District, with Mr. Restler ahead. The New York City Board of Elections has ordered an automatic recount of the votes in yesterday’s primary election, in which district leaders are elected.
Matthew Berman, Mr. Cohn’s director of communications, confirmed that the recount will take place tomorrow, Thursday, but an exact time is not yet known. Both candidates spent several hours at the Board of Elections office today to discuss the close count.
The unofficial tally from the New York State Board of Elections shows Mr. Restler ahead with 50.2 percent of the 6,078 votes.
In the 50th district female race, 26-year incumbent Linda Minucci held off Mr. Restler’s running mate Kate Zidar, with 2,737 votes to Ms. Zidar’s 2,344. A third candidate, Jasmine Velazquez, won 1,187 votes.
In the 57th Assembly District female race, Olanike Alabi, a two-term incumbent, bested challenger Renee Collymore, with 2,956 votes to Ms. Collymore’s 2,300.
It was the disputed presidential election and Florida recount in 2000 that prompted the Help America Vote Act, in 2002, which required New York to replace its lever machines with the paper-and-optical-scan equipment that debuted yesterday.
