Election officials in Rensselaer County have begun a full recount of ballots from the recent elections due to formatting errors discovered during the recanvassing process. The errors, which affected the second side of ballots, may have led to incorrect results for propositions in several municipalities. The recount started on Wednesday (November 19) and is taking place at the Rensselaer County Department of Social Services building.

According to CBS6 Albany, the Board of Elections decided to recount all contests after realizing that only ballot propositions were reported on election night in some towns. The recount involves approximately 40,000 ballots, and officials expect it to continue until early December.

The recount was prompted by concerns over the results of the Stephentown Memorial Library's budget proposal, which was initially reported as defeated by 89%. After providing over 100 affirmation documents, the library's supporters convinced election officials to rescan the ballots. As reported by Times Union, 240 residents claimed they voted for the proposal, significantly more than the unofficial results showed.

Rensselaer County Democratic Committee Chairman Mark Streb emphasized the importance of ensuring all votes are accurately counted, saying, "We need to double-check if there's any doubt that something may not be calculated correctly."

The state Board of Elections has extended the county's deadline to submit certified results, originally set for November 29, to accommodate the recount process. The county has brought in additional staff to expedite the process, with plans to hire 35 to 40 more workers.

Republican Commissioner Henry F. Zwack acknowledged the challenges but expressed confidence that future elections will avoid similar issues with the implementation of ballot pre-testing technology. As noted by Yahoo News, Zwack stated, "It's definitely a learning moment for us, so it definitely won't happen again."

Elvis Duran