Let the ballot counting begin....on Wednesday

PHOTOGRAPHER: Kathleen Moore

Ballot-counting to determine the next mayor of Schenectady won’t start until Wednesday, both sides decided after meeting in court this morning.

Election Night results provided no clear victor in the race for mayor, which pitted Acting Mayor Gary McCarthy, a Democrat, against Roger Hull, who ran on the Republican and Alliance Party lines.

Hull’s attorneys also asked state Supreme Court Judge Vincent Reilly to order a full recount because two ballot-reader machines were taken outside during Election Day. The machines were moved after Schenectady High School was briefly evacuated for a bathroom trash can fire and a report of a student with grenades in his backpack.

Reilly did not make an immediate decision on the request, reserving his decision until at least Wednesday.

McCarthy’s attorney opposed the recount on the grounds of cost and time, saying it should only be done if the re-canvassing of the machines shows a problem.

There are 529 absentee ballots yet to be counted in the Schenectady race.