The race for Cheektowaga Town Supervisor remains too close to call and will be decided by absentee and affidavit ballots.
Democrat Brian Nowak leads Republican Michael Jasinski by just 36 votes as of Wednesday morning, according to results posted by the Erie County Board of Elections.
Despite his razor-slim lead, Nowak declared victory in the race over Jasinski in a statement posted to social media Wednesday.
Nowak said he is “confident my lead will remain once all remaining absentees are counted.” Jasinski has not conceded the race.
On Wednesday, election officials were counting between 55 and 60 Cheektowaga absentee ballots that came in on Tuesday and Wednesday, Erie County Board of Elections Republican Commissioner Ralph Mohr said.
Around 375 absentee ballots from Cheektowaga have not yet been returned, Mohr said. Those ballots can still be counted if they are received through Tuesday and are postmarked by Nov. 7, elections board spokesperson Derek Murphy said.
Additionally, the Board of Elections must investigate about 109 affidavit ballots to determine whether they should be counted, Mohr said. That will take several days.
The elections board will have a better idea of where the race stands and if a manual recount is needed once outstanding ballots are counted. According to New York State election law, a recount is automatically triggered if the margin of victory is 0.5% or less, or if one candidates leads by 20 votes or fewer.
Nowak leads Jasinski by just 0.21%, according to results posted by the board of elections.
“This is going to be a close one, and we’re going to have to go work it,” Erie County Board of Elections Democratic Commissioner and chair of the Erie County Democratic Committee Jeremy Zellner said Tuesday.
Nowak had an early lead over Jasinski thanks to early and mail-in votes, but Jasinski made up for that with in-person ballots, according to the results.
Both candidates are Town Board members, so…
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