More than 2,000 absentee ballots in the 3rd Assembly District race between Dean Murray and Ed Hennessey will not be counted until next week, a spokesman for the Suffolk County Board of Elections told Patch Wednesday.
Murray, the Republican incumbent, currently leads Hennessey by 36 votes (17,762-17,726), according to unofficial election night BOE results. Kevin Molloy, Murray's chief of staff, said Murray was "confident" his lead would hold up in the end.
A state-mandated recanvass will happen next week and then the absentee ballots will be counted. Absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 5 that arrive at the BOE by Nov. 19 will also be counted, under an emergency resolution issued by the State Board of Elections after Hurricane Sandy.
According to the Suffolk BOE, currently 2,238 absentee ballots have been submitted.
The registered party affliation breakdown of those absentee voters is:
- 844 Republican
- 795 Democrat
- 436 Unaffliated
- 98 Independence
- 53 Conservative
- 7 Working Families
- 5 Green
The 3rd Assembly District includes Blue Point, Farmingville, Gordon Heights, Holtsville, Medford and Patchogue.
