Race for 7th State Senate District Goes to Overtime

The  race is apparently still on, even on Wednesday, the day after Election Day.

While Mineola , R,I,C, has , incumbent , D-Port Washington, called the celebration "premature." Johnson made the comments at about 12:30 a.m. Wednesday at a gathering of supporters at  in Port Washington.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Johnson was down by 415 votes, with 100 percent of the districts reporting. Officials say there are approximately 3,300 absentee ballots outstanding. The specific number of emergency ballots – paper ballots used if a machine is broken – is unknown. 

Calls placed to Sen. Johnson's office were refereed to Austin Shafran, spokesman for the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee. "Every vote counts and there are still thousands of votes to be counted, but we are fully confident Sen. Johnson will emerge victorious once all votes are counted," Shafran said.

In a telephone interview, Martins expressed his concerns about Johnson's campaign referring all inquiries to the committee. "The fact that he has turned it over to the senate committee," Martins said, "he defers to the party and in this case to the leadership of the senate conference."

Recounts are triggered automatically if the totals are within a certain margin. A candidate may also request a recount through an order to show cause to have all the ballots and paper reviewed more expeditiously.

"I'm looking forward to it," Martins said of the looming recount and opening of absentee ballots. "The process is yet to be completed. I think it's premature for anyone to be posturing or to take any action, I feel the process should be allowed to play itself out.

"I think we need to ensure the process continues, count every vote and… (we) will not allow the Democratic party through their attorneys to disenfranchise the voters."

The earliest a recount could take place would be Monday at the Board of Elections headquarters in Mineola.

"Democrats started in the majority, we remain in the majority, and we will pull out all the stops to stay in the majority," Shafran said. "Republicans want to rush to results, but elections are also about process. We will not let any votes be denied by an unfair process that disenfranchises New Yorkers."