With 98 Percent of Votes Counted, Bishop Leading by 200 Votes

Rep. Tim Bishop, D - Southampton, continued to win the absentee ballot count on Monday at Board of Elections headquarters in Yaphank. With 83 percent of absentees counted and 98.1 percent of more than 192,000 votes cast, Bishop's spokesman, Jon Schneider, reported that he holds a 206-vote lead over Republican challenger Randy Altschuler.

"It is becoming increasingly clear that Tim Bishop will win this election," Schneider said.  "For a fifth straight day, Tim Bishop has picked up votes and Randy Altschuler is running out of room to make up the difference."

Perhaps just as, if not more important, Schneider also said at BOE headquarters that for the fifth straight day, Altschuler representatives challenged more votes than Bishop representatives. Adding that "close to 90 percent" of protested votes are dismissed and counted, Schneider said Bishop's lead is much higher than 206 votes. He said Altschuler has challenged 1,051 votes to Bishop's 714, a difference of 337.

While Altschuler's camp had tallied different numbers on Monday, the total difference between the two was minimal - 202 votes. Altschuler's spokesman, Rob Ryan, said the discrepancy between Bishop's numbers and his own was unknown.

"I don't know if they made a mistake or we did," Ryan said. "But one thing's for sure: we're all pretty tired at this point, so it could be either one."

Ryan said that Bishop's camp may have added in numbers from unfinished election districts, which would be completed tomorrow morning. However Schneider said more ballots have yet to be counted (1,912) than Ryan (1,790).

Since Election Day, 20 days ago, the First Congressional District race has been a roller coaster. After election night, Bishop unofficially held a lead of 3,461 votes. After a recanvass of electronic voting machines, Bishop's lead evaporated to a 383-vote deficit, as close to 40 percent of election districts reported errors in transferring numbers on election night. Since absentee ballot counting began, Bishop has gained votes every day.

Prior to absentee counting, Bishop stated he was going to demand a hand recount of every vote cast. But Schneider was unsure on Monday if a hand recount would still be in order. Ryan said he "would not deal with hypotheticals," preferring to wait until the absentee count is complete to comment on a full recount.

Board of Election official Ivan Young said Monday evening that an audit of three percent of the electronic voting machines - 47 in total - showed no errors.