From Hudson's recommended diary:
Here is the short version of the situation shaping up in Columbia, Murphy's strongest county in NY-20: Tedisco's legal team is moving to disenfranchise an entire class of voters.
...
Specifically, virtually all ballots from Democrats who fit the profile of "second home owners" are being challenged -- and if the Board does not uphold the challenge, those ballots are being set aside, unopened, subject to a formal appeal by Tedisco. That is: They cannot be opened until a judge rules on them.
This GOP strategy is going to significantly depress Murphy's vote tally in Columbia, at least temporarily.
Those unfamiliar with Columbia County may not be aware that there has been, for many years, a large second home community here -- made up overwhelmingly, though not exclusively, of Democrats from New York City. Many of these voters have been here for many years, in some cases decades. As is entirely appropriate and legal, they have cast their ballots here without incident many times before, including just a few months ago for Barack Obama.
But as I'm hearing it, the Tedisco lawyer in Columbia (sent in by John Ciampoli) came prepared to challenge pretty much anyone who was a Democrat who had their absentee sent to a "downstate" address.
The practical effect of this is to ensure that the initial count does not include a number of likely pro-Murphy votes...perhaps a sufficient number to make Tedisco appear the winner, so that he can declare victory before the "challenged" ballots are counted.
There's apparently no basis to Tedisco's challenges, and they should be overturned. The law is very clear that voters with multiple residences can select the residence they wish to use for voter registration.
But if Tedisco can temporarily depress Murphy strength in Columbia County, it could make him appear to be the eventual winner, even if he actually isn't. And if the final count favors Murphy, Tedisco's challenges (to perfectly legitimate ballots) may cast a shadow on the legitimacy of Murphy's lead (as Republicans have attempted to do with Al Franken's election).
Murphy is cruising in Columbia County even among ballots Tedisco didn't see fit to challenge:
The first day of counting absentee ballots in the final phase of the Scott Murphy–James Tedisco election battle got underway yesterday in Columbia County at the headquarters of the county Board of Elections in Hudson—and at BOEs throughout the ten counties of the 20th Congressional District—and while the pace was exceedingly slow, the outcome from one perspective was striking: Murphy had 55 votes to Tedisco’s 13.
The total number of ballots examined on Wednesday was 112, since the Board was able to get to only seven of Columbia County’s 58 precincts. Sixty-eight ballots were counted; the remaining 44 ballots were challenged and set aside to be argued over later before State Supreme Court Judge James V. Brands. By one observer’s recollection, Republicans initiated an "overwhelming number" of the 44 challenges to absentee ballots during the day.
The Republicans have shipped in some of the old Florida 2000 people to help them, like Roger Stone. We've got to make sure everything is conducted on the up-and-up in NY-20.