Melinda Katz casting her vote in the June 25 election. (Melinda Katz)
July 4, 2019 By Christian Murray
Melinda Katz has declared victory in the Democratic primary for Queens District Attorney, following the manual recount on Wednesday of thousands of absentee and affidavit ballots.
The margin of victory over Tiffany Cabán was 20 votes, according to several well-placed sources. The City was the first publication to attribute the razor-thin margin to the Board of Elections.
The vote differential, however, is so slim that it will result in an automatic manual recount of all 80,000-plus ballots cast. A margin of victory below 450 votes (0.5 percent) triggers such a recount.
“We said from the beginning that every vote needs to be counted and that every voter needs to be heard and now we see clearly why this must always be the case,” Katz said in a statement. “I am proud to have been chosen as the Democratic nominee for Queens District Attorney.”
Katz anticipates a tough battle ahead before the election results are certified, expected to be done by mid July.
“We know that these numbers can and will be subject to the recount, and there may be legal challenges, but what matters most is the will of Queens voters….This is Democracy.”
Many Cabán supporters were stunned by the change of events. Cabán started the day 1,199 votes ahead of Katz only for the lead to vanish. They questioned the integrity of the BOE, which has a reputation of being staffed by party loyalists.
When Cabán declared victory on June 25, her supporters were convinced the results would hold, since they knew that Katz needed to win an overwhelming majority of the 6,300 absentee and affidavit ballots that had to be counted. Additionally, there were six candidates vying for the votes.
Yesterday’s count was controversial, since the BOE ruled out about 2,000 affidavit ballots. They were reportedly deemed invalid for a variety of reasons, including the ballot being mailed too late, the form being filled out incorrectly or the voter not being a registered Democrat.
The Cabán team plans to review the ballots to make sure every eligible vote is counted. Her team remains confident that she will prevail.
“Queens voters are inspired by Tiffany Cabán’s campaign and her vision for real criminal justice reform. If every paper ballot vote is counted, we are confident we will prevail.”
The winner is expected to face GOP nominee Daniel Kogan in November.
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11 Comments
Queens needs a prosecutor who isn’t going to prosecute is this a twilight zone episode cue rod sterling
Queens needs a communist prosecutor who isn’t going to prosecute makes sense in what twilight episode
Its not over!!
Nothing makes me feel more sore than the Queens machine bending us over and stretching us for profit.
This is from the old Lyndon “stuff the ballot box” Johnson, updated by the GOP’s floriduh inventions.
If this isn’t a theft, please tell us how the 2,700 votes that weren’t counted were split!!!
same sentiment here, but make no mistake establishment politics crosses all party lines.
Looks like Caban isn’t going to prosecute much after all.
Even if Caban loses the fact that she cane so close is great. Still hoping after the recount she wins.
As I said from the start, count ALL the votes.
So the 2,700 votes that won’t be counted don’t count?
Katz is stealing this election. The Queens Board of Elections is run by Crowley appointees and Katz’s attorney Frank Bolz , runs the Board of Elections. They went out in the weeks leading up the election to get absentee ballots and affidavits for Katz. Crowley , Bolz etc should all go to jail if their election fraud is uncovered. Caban should fight til the end against the corrupt Queens Machine.
Katz insisted that ALL the votes be counted. The results were too close to declare victory, or to concede on election night.
All candidates worked hard to get out the vote. That’s not stealing the election. Insinuating election fraud is reckless and unfounded.
The Democratic Party has well-established, long-standing rules for its primaries. Google it. First off, Affidavit ballots have to verified to be registered Democratic Party voters. And the absentee envelopes were opened in front of both camps, and witnessed by scores of people and lawyers, including JVB.
JVB was there, so ask him if this election was rigged. He should clarify this for all of the voters of Queens, especially since he’s running to be the next Queens Borough President.