Oneida Election Commissioners Resign Over 22nd Congressional Vote Debacle

The heads of the Onieda County Board of Elections, who came under fire following mistakes with the registration and voting in the 22^nd U.S. Congressional District of New York have resigned.

Of the eight counties in the District, the Utica area seemed to have some of the most and most serious problems in resolving the contest between Democrat incumbent Congressman Anthony Brindisi and former Congresswoman, Republican Claudia Tenney which led to a three-month wait for the congressional race to be decided.

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Oneida County Democratic Elections Commissioner Carolann Cardone and her Republican counterpart, Rose Grimaldi, had been blamed for some of the record-keeping and tabulation errors that delayed the certification of Republican Representative Claudia Tenney’s 109-vote win in the November 2020 election until this month.

Cardone submitted her letter of resignation, effective March 2 on Tuesday while Grimaldi submitted her resignation yesterday.

If the pair had not stepped down, there had been requests that Governor Andrew Cuomo remove them.

There have also been requests for an investigation into the dealings in the tabulation of the votes in all eight of the counties making up the district.

Tenney, throughout the campaign and during the drawn-out canvassing process, blamed election changes instituted recently by the Cuomo administration, many involving early voting and the use of absentee ballots.