Rangel recount shows margin of victory down to 802 votes

by theGrio |
U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) sits in the audience during the presentation ceremony of the Congressional Gold Medal at the Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor's Center June 27, 2012 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Montford Point Marines were recognized for being the nation's first African-American Marines who received basic training at Montford Point Camp, New River, N.C. from 1942 to 1949, and their services to the country. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

U.S. Rep. Charles Rangel (D-NY) sits in the audience during the presentation ceremony of the Congressional Gold Medal at the Emancipation Hall of the Capitol Visitor's Center June 27, 2012 on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. The Montford Point Marines were recognized for being the nation's first African-American Marines who received basic training at Montford Point Camp, New River, N.C. from 1942 to 1949, and their services to the country. (Photo by Alex Wong/Getty Images)

In the race for the 13th Congressional District in Upper Manhattan, Congressman Charlie Rangel was initially declared the winner over State Senator Adriano Espaillat. After reports were made about several precincts’ votes in the district being left out, a recount has ensued.  Rangel’s margin of victory is down to 802 votes. The Politicker reports:

The race between veteran Congressman Charlie Rangel and State Senator Adriano Espaillat for the 13th Congressional District in Upper Manhattan will come down to paper ballots. Mr. Rangel was initially declared the winner by the Associated Press based on initial results provided by the New York City Board of Elections, but it was subsequently revealed those results did not include votes from many of the precincts in the district. After a re-examination of the votes, the BOE released unofficial results tonight including votes cast in all of the district’s 506 precincts that show Mr. Rangel defeating Mr. Espaillat by a margin of just 802 votes. According to the BOE, Mr. Rangel received 18,075 votes, or 44.29 percent of the total cast, compared to Mr. Espaillat’s 17,273, 42.33 percent of the votes cast.

These unofficial results do not include paper ballots cast by absentee voters and affidavit ballots submitted by those whose name is not on the voter rolls when they arrive at the polling place. Those paper ballots, which include votes for both candidates, will be counted by the BOE next Thursday and will be the deciding factor in this tight race.

On Thursday, Mr. Espaillat’s supporters held a press conference in front of Mr. Rangel’s office where they called for a federal monitor to oversee the counting of votes after the issues with the initial results.

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