Daily News Call for Hand Recount; 42 Paper Ballots are Tossed

Remember the dimpled chads of 2000? We have a similar problem: It’s possible that ballots with clear votes on them weren't counted by the machines, and the Daily News calls for a recount, even if the gap ends above 0.5 percent of the votes.

According to the News, 42 paper ballots were not included because the scanner hasn’t detected a vote on them. It's possible that the voter circled a candidate's name instead of filling the oval next to it. On the absentees, which are examined by hand, the Board of Elections will include such as a vote, but they wouldn't make the effort to find such votes on Election Day ballots. The News wants to examine the ballots, and is reporting that they uncovered that one scanner in Bronx miscounted hundreds of votes through a similar freedom of information request.

Lawyers: Start preparing the case. And for laymen who want to familiarize a bit more with the process, check out an interesting recount and re-canvass primer by Liz Benjamin.

And Michael Powel of the Times sees in Fidler's dismal showing a sign that the democratic machines in Queens and Brooklyn are over - in that case it demonstrates the demise of the once powerful Southern Brooklyn Thomas Jefferson club.

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