NYC mayoral candidate Eric Adams filed a lawsuit Wednesday to “ensure a fair and transparent election process” after the city’s Board of Elections (BOE) accidentally added 135,000 test ballots to the count for the June 22 primary.
“Today we petitioned the court to preserve our right to a fair election process and to have a judge oversee and review ballots, if necessary,” Adams (D) said in a statement.
“We invite the other campaigns to join us and petition the court as we all seek a clear and trusted conclusion to this election.”
The lawsuit comes following news on Wednesday that the BOE withdrew data showing the first round of results from the new ranked choice system.
The data had indicated Adams’ lead in the primary shrunk significantly, but the BOE tweeted there was a “discrepancy” in its report and later explained that 135,000 ballot images placed in the system for test purposes had never been cleared.
BREAKING: Election officials in New York City have retracted their latest vote totals for the Democratic primary for mayor. They say 135,000 test ballots were inadvertently included in the count. https://t.co/mUvVW8k6VR
— The Associated Press (@AP) June 30, 2021
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NYC Mayoral Candidate Worried About Fair Election Process
Hearing news of a Democrat NYC mayoral candidate and others involved in the election being the victim of an incorrect ballot count was too much for former President Trump to bite his tongue.
Trump, in a statement, linked the election error to his own unsubstantiated claims of errors in the 2020 presidential election.
“Just like in the 2020 Presidential Election, it was announced overnight in New York City that vast irregularities and mistakes were made and that Eric Adams, despite an almost insurmountable lead, may not win the race,” Trump lamented.
“The fact is, based on what has happened, nobody will ever know who really won.”
Trump went on to call his loss to President Biden “a Scam and a Hoax.”
In a separate statement, Trump joked that the 135,000 ballot error wasn’t all that bad.
“The New York City Election, even though an embarrassment and total mess, is far better and more accurate than my 2020 Presidential Election — so what are people complaining about!” he said.
I was told this opinion is the ruin of democracy.
— Bill James should be in the HOF (@Huerts31) June 30, 2021
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Only Democrats Can Question Election Integrity?
Republicans found parallels between trouble in the NYC mayoral election and the Democrats’ recent attempts to nationalize election laws and the White House’s efforts to sue Georgia for trying to improve election integrity.
“While Democrats push a federal takeover of elections and Biden weaponizes the DOJ against the state of Georgia, Democrats can’t even manage a mayoral race without counting 135,000 fake ballots,” Republican National Committee (RNC) Chairwoman Ronna McDaniel said in a statement.
“This is what happens when Democrats run elections: incompetence, fraud, confusion, and ballot insecurity,” McDaniel added. “Republicans have been fighting for common-sense election integrity reforms to prevent the very problems on display in New York City.”
Let me get this straight? You can be off by 135,000 votes in a New York City mayoral primary alone but if someone loses the White House by less than 45,000 across multiple states in a presidential election you can’t have any questions.
Seems legit… if you live in China. https://t.co/W5tEH0uIi0
— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) June 30, 2021
Dave Wasserman, an NBC News contributor, tweeted notes that indicate the counted “test ballots” may only be the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the chaos of New York City’s Democrat primary.
My condensed notes on the state of play in NYC… pic.twitter.com/0IxLZhvK6J
— Dave Wasserman (@Redistrict) June 30, 2021
Meanwhile, the Biden Justice Department is suing Georgia for enacting a commonsense election integrity law that a majority of Georgians believe increases confidence in their election system.
“Democrats in D.C. want to nationalize New York’s election failures with their H.R. 1 power grab,” says Tommy Pigott, Rapid Response Director for the RNC.
“New York’s disaster,” he suggested, is “a preview of what’s coming to elections near you if Democrats get their way.”
In corrected results released late Wednesday evening, Adams’ lead in the NYC mayoral election had dwindled even further – to less than 15,000 votes.
There are 125,000 outstanding absentee ballots that won’t be counted until July 6th.
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