The Gouverneur Times made "numerous false assertions and allegations," a state Board of Elections official said, when their writer suggested that a "virus" in the computerized voting systems had "tainted" results from the 23rd Congressional District race.

John Conklin, the board's director of public information said:

Mr. Conklin said the state board learned of a software problem that caused some voting machines to freeze during pre-election testing, but said the voting systems were corrected.

Mr. Conklin also dismissed the article's contention that the voting machines could be hacked via their USB port. The port, he said, "is sealed, is not accessible and has no capability for any exchange of information. The scanners do not operate like personal computers. Any device, such as a flash drive, placed in the port will not be recognized."

The spokesman said the machines were in the care, custody and control of the local board of elections, under lock and key and covered in tamper-evident seals.

Mr. Conklin also said the online publication's reference to a slot that is accessible to voters and poll workers "is inaccurate."

Mr. Conklin concluded:

So, does anyone remain convinced by the Gouverneur Times' claims?

Assemblywoman Addie J. Russell, D-Theresa, asked the north country's three Democratic federal lawmakers Friday to call for an investigation of the Veterans Administration, which ended its affiliation with Carthage Area Hospital for a local clinic and awarded a contract to Valor Healthcare, a Washington D.C.-based organization.

“I cannot understand why the VA would end a six-year operation with the second best customer service record in the state and bring in a Washington, D.C. outfit that has had issues in some of the other VA clinics that it operates,” said Mrs. Russell in a statement.

The assemblywoman said Valor has no established ties to the north country, and argued that a portion of its revenue would go to Washington instead of staying in the north country.

"The Carthage Clinic turned services around for our veterans and having them reestablish with a new physician and medical team is very troublesome and stressful," she said.

Mrs. Russell's call was directed toward Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh and U.S. Sens. Kirsten D. Gillibrand and Charles E. Schumer. All three representatives focused their effort Thursday on asking the VA to address a potential service gap between November and February, the time period when the Carthage clinic will be closed and before the Watertown clinic is open.

James Cody, director of the Syracuse VA Medical Center, said Friday that there will be no gap in service for local veterans, although Carthage Area Hospital Administrator Walter Becker said his group hasn't been contacted about extending service past Nov. 30.

Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, has erased Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman's lead among absentee voters - and is now 253 votes ahead of his challenger in that category. Mr. Owens is now 3,398 votes ahead of Mr. Hoffman overall with 813 ballots left to be counted.

Mr. Hoffman had what now appears to be a false lead among absentee voters all week because St. Lawrence County - which went to Mr. Owens by a large margin on Election Day - had not reported numbers until today.

Mr. Owens looks like he may win this race by 3,500 votes - or about 200 better than he had after post-Election Day machine recanvassing.

Lewis County has finally reported its two missing towns as well as all of its absentees, so both its machine count and absentee counts for the 23rd Congressional District race are updated today. Franklin County reported 4,589 votes for Mr. Hoffman on election night, but now reports 4,564 votes after recanvassing the machines and reporting absentees. It appears that the recanvass found votes that were incorrectly given to the Conservative Party candidate on election night.

Note: Jefferson and Clinton counties' numbers are incomplete. Jefferson has reported 80 percent of absentees. Clinton has reported 79.3 percent of absentees.

Bo Lipari, the former executive director of New Yorkers for Verified Voting, has debunked The Gouverneur Times' claim of a "virus" in the computerized voting systems that skewed the results of the 23rd Congressional District race.

Mr. Lipari notes, as I did last week, that a problem occurred in Dominion machines that caused them to freeze when certain vote combinations in mulitiple candidate elections were entered.

The elections monitor called the result a "bad news-good news-bad news-good news" situation. Dominion, he argues, should have found the bad code before it sent the machines out. But, he countered, the pre-election testing did what it should - found the error. Then again, all those who needed the fix didn't get it.

But, he concludes:

The Gouverneur Times was the toast of the conservative blogosphere when they suggested that Rep. Bill Owens had broken four campaign promises within the first hour of taking office - although the author recanted one alleged broken promise immediately.

But the "virus" story hasn't had the same wide distribution, perhaps suggesting that people were tiring of hearing the multitude of fake reasons why Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman didn't win this contest.

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine's two scheduled round-table discussions Monday in St. Lawrence County on agriculture and energy issues have been postponed.

The senator will be attending another extraordinary session in Albany instead. No make-up dates have been announced.

"Powering New York's Future," a discussion on the state's low-cost-power economic development programs, was scheduled from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the Massena Village Hall, 60 Main St.

"Protecting the Foundation of New York's Number One Industry,” a discussion on the state's agricultural challenges, was scheduled from 2 to 4 p.m. at the Waddington Village Hall, 46 Maple St.

Mr. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, is chairman of both the Senate Agriculture Committee and the Senate Energy Committee.

Good morning! Here's what's making news in the political world this morning.

Albany

The Farm Workers Fair Practices Labor Act would kill family farms, said almost all who testified Thursday at a Senate Ag Committee hearing in Watertown.

Mayor Graham said the GOP will try and use the bill to defeat Darrel Aubertine next year (although the senator opposes the bill).

North country

NCPR's Brian Mann wonders: Is the north country truly conservative?

NY-23

Absentee ballots show Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, is the winner of the 23rd Congressional District race.

Mr. Owens talks about his new job with North Country Public Radio.

The DCCC has added Mr. Owens to their Frontline Program, a fundraiser for vulnerable incumbents.

NCPR's Brian Mann (he turned in a lot of good work recently, I tell ya) hypothesizes about why conservatives fear "stolen" elections.

ACORN calls Doug Hoffman "a sore loser."

Dede Scozzafava will be on New York Now this week:

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, hosted a hearing today in Watertown to learn from agricultural officials about the pertitent issues.

Marilyn Trainer, District 4 director for the state Association of Agricultural Fairs, said during her testimony that she had accompanied a traveling carnival show for a short period of time to get a better understanding of how they operate.

She then urged those in the room to join a carnival if they were ever offered the opportunity.

"I belong to one," Mr. Aubertine quipped.

My story about the hearing's far more serious topics, such as the Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act, will be in Friday's paper.

It's over. Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, leads by 3,105 votes with 3,072 absentee ballots left to be counted.

It looks like these results will be challenged by Team Hoffman. I wrote about this - it's not even right to call it a "virus" - issue last Friday.

Note: Jefferson, Oswego and Clinton counties' numbers are incomplete. Oswego has reported 82.25 percent of absentees. Jefferson has reported 51.5 percent of absentees. Clinton has reported 79.3 percent of absentees.

With 58.6 percent of all absentees counted, Mr. Hoffman has gained 71 votes on Mr. Owens so far.

Good morning! Here's what's making news in the political world.

NY-23

Rep. Bill Owens was picked for the House Armed Services Committee, continuing a long tradition of north country representatives.

With Mr. Owens' victory now almost certain, his former opponent Doug Hoffman is accusing ACORN, unions and the Democratic Party of tampering with ballots.

Mr. Hoffman is "flirting with irresponsible politics," North Country Public Radio's Brian Mann writes.

Making accussations like this "isn't the sort of behavoir that wins over a skeptical electorate" looking at a possible Hoffman-Owens rematch, the Washington Independent writes.

State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long says NY-23 should serve as a reminder that Republicans can't roll Conservatives any time they please.

North country

Patty Ritchie is playing coy, Mayor Graham writes, about her desire to be the Republican Party candidate in the 48th State Senate District.

With his prospect of winning the 23rd Congressional District race now almost zero, Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman suggested Wednesday in a letter that “ACORN, the unions and the Democratic Party” “tampered” with results to deny him victory.

Mr. Hoffman provided no evidence to support his claims, but asked fellow conservatives to send donations his way to “ensure every vote is counted.”

Jerry O. Eaton, Jefferson County Republican elections commissioner, called Mr. Hoffman's assertion “absolutely false.”

“No one has touched those ballots or has access to those ballots except board of elections staff - and in a bipartisan manner,” he said.

Mr. Hoffman trails Rep. William L. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, by 2,832 votes after 42.6 percent of absentee ballots districtwide were reported Wednesday. Officials are expected to count the 4,262 ballots remaining by Monday.

Mr. Hoffman told conservatives he was “forced to concede” on election night after learning he trailed by 5,335 votes and that he “barely won” his “stronghold in Oswego County.”

Oswego County did not have full results on election night because of what William W. Scriber, a Democratic elections commissioner there, called a “perfect storm” of problems. He said the elections board had assigned staffers to take results for specific districts, but the phone system redirected poll workers' calls to the wrong people.

Mr. Scriber said the board decided to close its public reporting system early - with nine districts still unreported - as a safeguard.

“We believe we did the right thing,” he said Wednesday. “But we've been abused so badly in this situation.”

Mr. Hoffman lead Oswego County by 500 votes when elections officials stopped taking results. When elections officials recanvassed the machine vote, the candidate's lead was upgraded to 1,748.

Mr. Hoffman said the “phone system foul-up” and “inspectors who read numbers incorrectly when phoning in results” “sounds like a tactic right from the ACORN playbook.”

George J. Williams, Oswego County Republican chairman, said Mr. Hoffman's assertion “is not accurate.” The chairman said he roamed the county on Election Day and saw no evidence of tampering.

“We're not going to take the blame because he didn't hold his concession speech,” Mr. Williams said. “If there's any doubt, I would never concede. I know things could happen. Did illegal things happen? No, I do not believe that.”

Robert H. Ryan, Mr. Hoffman's spokesman, declined to provide supporting evidence for his candidate's claims Wednesday.

“When and if we challenge the election, we will lay out the evidence on these matters,” he said.

WASHINGTON — Rep. William L. Owens will serve on the House armed services and homeland security committees, the House Democratic leadership announced today.

Mr. Owens, D-Plattsburgh, assumes the Armed Services seat vacated by Rep. Ellen O. Tauscher, D-Calif., and beat out her replacement, also a Democrat, for the slot.

“Fort Drum is the largest employer in our district, and is critical to both our national security and our local economy” Mr. Owens said in a press release. “I will do everything in my power to maintain and strengthen Fort Drum as a Member of Congress, and as a member of the Armed Services Committee I will fight tirelessly for the base, the surrounding community and for our entire district, all who benefit from Fort Drum's presence.”

In the release, Mr. Owens also noted the significance of the Homeland Security assignment, given the district's long border with Canada and several ports of entry.

Subcommittee assignments were not announced.

The decision was made by the House Steering and Policy Committee.

Fulton County has reported results from the 325 absentee ballots cast in the 23rd Congressional District race. Conservative Party candidate Douglas L. Hoffman picked up 179 votes, Democrat William L. Owens added 84 votes and Republican Dierdre K. Scozzafava gained 62 votes.

An Essex County elections board official said they won't make their results known until Monday. St. Lawrence County will start tabulating results tomorrow.

Jefferson, Oswego, Franklin and Clinton are working on absentees for the second straight day. All four did not finish today.

Here is the table with the new unofficial results:

Note: Jefferson, Oswego and Clinton counties' numbers are incomplete. Oswego has reported 55.6 percent of absentees. Jefferson has reported 36.3 percent of absentees. Clinton has reported 12.8 percent of absentees.

With 42.6 percent of all absentees counted, Mr. Hoffman has gained 344 votes on Mr. Owens so far. Mr. Owens, however, still leads by 2,832 votes.

If the current percentages hold, Mr. Owens will win by 2,368 votes.

Simply put, Ms. Scozzafava's strong performance in absentees is making Mr. Hoffman's chances of winning creep closer to "impossible."

The Republican is grabbing 21.1 percent of the absentees so far.

There are 4,262 absentee ballots remaining. If Ms. Scozzafava takes 21 percent of those, Mr. Hoffman will need 3,099 to pass Mr. Owens. That's 92 percent of the remaining pie - absolutely unheard of.

Good morning! Here is what is making news in the political world:

NY-23

Doug Hoffman's "miracle" comeback will likely stay on ice.

Mr. Hoffman's spokesman said he is not "unconceding" the race, despite what he said on Glenn Beck's radio show,

Albany

The NY Post lashes out at Sen. Darrel Aubertine and others in the Senate Democratic Conference for trying to take school aid off the table during deficit reduction plan negotiations without offering anything as a replacement.

Mr. Aubertine will likely face a Republican challenger to his seat next year.

Patty Ritchie pens an op-ed for the Post about her apparently successful petition against new license plates.

Three counties - Oneida, Madison and Hamilton - in the 23rd Congressional District have counted their absentee votes and reported tallies.

This table places each candidate's absentee votes in parentheses next to each candidate's election night total.

Note: Jefferson County's numbers are incomplete; only 27 percent of absentees have been counted.

Among absentees, Mr. Hoffman has picked up 44.0 percent of the vote, Mr. Owens has gathered 32.3 percent of the vote and Ms. Scozzafava got 23.7 percent of the absentee vote. If the percentages hold, Mr. Owens will win by 2,305 votes.

Mr. Hoffman now trails Mr. Owens by 2,959 votes, with 5,570 absentee ballots left to be counted.

Good morning! I'll be checking in with absentee ballot counting in NY-23, as well as some local races in Jefferson County today. In the interim, here is what is making headlines in the political world:

NY-23

Doug Hoffman is hoping that Lake Placid can produce a second miracle.

Stuart Rothenberg offers what we learned about Obama from the election results here.

Mr. Hoffman stopped by the Capitol - in Albany - yesterday. He was effusive as ever.

Assemblywoman Janet Duprey, R-Peru, received threatening e-mails and phone calls regarding the county chairs' pick of Dede Scozzafava.

Albany

Patti Ritchie's plate coup sets her up nicely for a 2010 state Senate bid, Mayor Graham argues.

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman was on Glenn Beck's radio program Monday where, in a two-minute span, he managed to get three facts about the 23rd Congressional District election results wrong.

Mr. Hoffman told the conservative commentator that he's within "a little over 2,000 votes" from Democrat Bill Owens. In fact, he was 3,176 votes behind Mr. Owens before absentees were counted and allegedly 2,951 after absentees in three counties he won were counted. (I only say "allegedly" because I haven't had an opportunity to get these numbers myself.)

The candidate then said twice that there were 10,000 absentee votes to be counted - although there were never more than 7,419 absentee ballots returned and, according to the Gouverneur Times, there are 6,123 left.

Finally, Mr. Hoffman says "there's a lot of military votes coming in and militaries tend to go with the conservative." But Jefferson County had the largest segment of military voters, and they received a less than 8.5 percent return. (Six hundred five ballots were sent out; 51 were returned.)

Mr. Hoffman said he needs to win between 56 and 65 percent of the absentee vote to win, although I've previously discussed how impractical, yet technically possible, a win will be to achieve.

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, will host a hearing on farm issues from 1 to 4 p.m. Thursday in the Jules Center at Jefferson Community College, Watertown.

Those wishing to speak at the hearing must fax a form by the end of Tuesday to Sarah Blood, committee director, at (518) 426-6946 or e-mail her at blood@senate.state.ny.us. The form is available here.

Mr. Aubertine, the Senate Agriculture chairman, is gathering feedback on several issues, including the dairy crisis, the proposed Farm Workers Fair Labor Practices Act, and efforts to promote local agriculture. Mr. Aubertine's office has said farmers in previous sessions have also asked for reduced regulations, the elimination of "stop and haul" fees, and to fight imports of milk protein concentrates and caseinates.

The Cape Vincent Democrat will be joined Thursday by state Sen. David J. Valesky, D-Oneida, a fellow Agriculture Committee member.

The New York Farm Bureau has helped organize a series of roundtable discussions and farm tours for the Agriculture Committee, including stops in Eden Valley, Jamestown, the Northfork region of Long Island, Morrisville, Ithaca, Warsaw, Granby.

"New York cannot afford to lose another industry. Make no mistake: Agriculture is an industry and it is the foundation of our economy," Mr. Aubertine said in a statement. "Farms create wealth, and do so in the surrounding communities. Yet too often in discussions about revitalizing our economy, agriculture is set aside as though it is something different."

The special Senate session has forced the Agriculture Committee to postpone two roundtables. Mr. Aubertine will meet with farmers from 2 to 4 p.m. Nov. 23 at the Waddington Village Hall, 46 Maple St. A forum in Schoharie County, scheduled for Tuesday, does not yet have a make-up date.

The north country's four state legislators have all said they're against forcing residents to replace their license plates - and charging them $25 in the process.

Gov. David A. Paterson said last weekend that he was willing to drop the license plate proposal, which was included in the 2009-10 budget, if the Legislature can find an alternate way to raise the $129 million the plan would have generated. The state is facing an estimated $3 billion deficit for this fiscal year.

Mr. Paterson's partial concession was a victory for St. Lawrence County Clerk Patricia A. Ritchie, who collected an estimated 10,000 signatures on a petition opposing the measure. Mrs. Ritchie is president of the state Association of County Clerks.

State Sen. Joseph A. Griffo, R-Rome, pointed specifically to the license plate fee when explaining why he voted against this year's budget.

"Higher drivers license fees, a new $25 fee to replace all the license plates in the state, fees on cell phones, higher taxes on beer and wine sales, an increase in fees for a hunting license, more taxes to light and heat your home – all of these will cost people who cannot afford it hundreds of dollars every year,” the senator said in April. “The average working man and woman is being taxed to death to maintain the political status quo in Albany. It is disgraceful.”

Assemblywoman Dierdre K. Scozzafava, R-Gouverneur, called the license plate plan "nothing more than another onerous tax on already struggling north country residents."

"I see the repeal of this fee as a mandate on the Albany politicians from the everyday residents of this state. No longer will residents sit idly by as they are being taxed beyond their means," she said Monday in a statement. "People were united in a worthwhile grassroots effort, evident by their successful efforts to repeal this burdensome license plate fee."

Mrs. Scozzafava, who voted against the budget, also praised Mrs. Ritchie for launching the petition.

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said Friday that he was always opposed to the proposal, despite his vote for the budget.

Mrs. Russell, who also voted for the budget, said Monday she was "pleased" that advocates in the north country have worked to kill the fee.

“I have been a vocal advocate against any measures that disproportionately affect north country families and have proposed strategies such as shrinking the overall size of government, changing the way we purchase items such as computers and software to save money, and giving mandate relief to local governments and school districts, so that we do not merely shift the tax burden for programs from the state to property tax payers," the assemblywoman said in a statement.

Mrs. Russell also used the occasion to reiterate her opposition to the "floor tax" on wine and liquor inventory, saying she wanted the issue to be "reconsidered." Wholesalers, retailers and distributors were required to pay a one-time surcharge on their beer and wine stock this summer after the state upped its excise tax through the budget.

Mrs. Russell's bill to repeal the floor tax passed the Assembly. A companion bill, sponsored by Mr. Griffo, was never considered by the Senate.

“I will continue to try to persuade my colleagues in the Legislature to get away from these hidden taxes on our working families and insist that we live within our means," the assemblywoman said.

In their statements, the four north country lawmakers did not offer an alternative means of capturing the revenue the plate proposal would have generated.

Good morning! Here's what's making headlines in the political world:

Albany

The governor is willing to withdraw the license plate replacement idea if other savings can be found.

NY-23

Many people will "meet" Bill Owens through the staff he hires. Choose wisely, new congressman.

Doug Hoffman is keeping his close ties with organizers of the 9/12 Project, which was founded by Glenn Beck.

Mr. Hoffman will be on Mr. Beck's radio show today, sometime between 9 a.m. and noon. It airs on WTNY 790 in Watertown and WQTK 92.7 FM in Ogdensburg.

Mr. Hoffman says if he knew he were only down 3,176 votes on Election Night, he wouldn't have conceded. The Conservative Party candidate and Fox News continue to misrepresent the number of absentee ballots to be counted. It is 7,419, NOT 10,000.

Jessica Crawford, a Dexter native now living in Syracuse, told the Post-Standard that she's looking to challenge state Sen. Dave Valesky for the 49th District seat in 2010.

Ms. Crawford, a 1996 graduate of General Brown Central School and 2000 graduate of Syracuse University, is a former chairwoman of 40 Below, a group which encourages people under 40 to take leadership roles in the Syracuse area.

The newspaper said Ms. Crawford, 31, will likely face a Republican Party primary challenge from Andrew Russo, 34, a Grammy-nominated pianist living in Fayetteville.

The 49th District includes Madison County and parts of Cayuga, Oneida and Onondaga counties. Mr. Valesky, D-Oneida, has represented the district since 2004.

A state Board of Elections official gave high marks Tuesday to the digital voting systems that replaced traditional lever machines in 20 counties this Election Day.

Anna E. Svizzero, elections operation director, said the state's pilot program - which also included 28 counties that used a blend of new voting systems and old lever machines - "was very successful."

"We did encounter some issues with voting machine failures," she told the state's Board of Commissioners in Albany. "(But) we certainly have more lever machine problems than BMD (ballot marking device) or scanner issues."

The state is transitioning from lever machines to new handicapped-accessible voting systems to comply with the federal Help America Vote Act.

The director said Dominion machines in Lewis, Seneca and Schuyler failed - but "it wasn't countywide. It was a handful of machines within those counties. It wasn't seen as a catastophic failure."

She said the primary cause of voting machine failure was a memory issue related to the way ballots were programmed to record multiple votes for one office.

"If the test votes were cast in a certain way, the machine would freeze up and it would not permit you to move forward," she said. "So there were no votes calculated on the voting machines and those ballots were the ones that had to be hand counted. In reviewing the county board ballot styles, the vendor located the 10 counties where that change had to be made and it was made prior to Election Day. But, in that it was humans reviewing those ballots, there were a couple of those ballot styles that were missed. So, in the field on Election Day, the problem did arise. The scanner did freeze up.”

Ms. Svizzero said in all instances where the scanner froze, the ballots were hand counted.

"That's certainly one of the assets of the paper ballot - that there will never be a vote that's lost," she said.

Ms. Svizzero said all other issues were related to "paper jams and inexperience with the system and that those issues will be overcome with more time."

The director reported no issues with ES&S voting machines, which were used by Albany, Schenectady and Erie counties' voters.

Watch Ms. Svizzero's full report here, starting at the 13:56 mark.

Good morning! Here's what is making news in the political world.

NY-23

Conservative Party candidate Doug Hoffman has drawn closer to Rep. Bill Owens, D-Plattsburgh, in the election results, but the end result is unlikely to change. (Here's WWNY's take.)

State Conservative Party Chairman Mike Long still thinks Mr. Owens will prevail when all the votes are counted.

NCPR wonders: How long will "Scozzafava" remain a verb?

Doug Hoffman may need absentee votes to run 53 percent more in his favor than the ballot box did to overtake Bill Owens in the 23rd Congressional District race.

The Gouverneur Times was one of many publications buzzing with the possibility that Mr. Hoffman, who trails by 3,176 votes, could overtake Mr. Owens in the absentee counting. The online publication wrote today:

I called all 11 county elections boards and could pretty quickly determine this was factually incorrect. Here are the true figures:

Also, it's safe to assume that Jefferson County sent the most military ballots out because of Fort Drum. Jerry Eaton, the county Republican elections commissioner, said 605 military ballots were sent, but 51 were returned. Military voters aren't the majority of absentee voters. Furthermore, it is unlikely that military voters will decide this election.

If Republican Dede Scozzafava gets 359 absentee votes, or five percent of the total absentee vote, Mr. Hoffman would need 5,113 votes, or 68.9 percent of the absentee vote, to win.

Ms. Scozzafava dropped out of the race with three days left to go, after several people likely returned their ballots. A Siena poll released the Saturday before the election suggested she had as much as 20 percent support.

The higher Ms. Scozzafava's absentee numbers go, the more of an impossibility that Mr. Hoffman wins becomes. It's not mathematically impossible. But realistically, it's not going to happen.

John Conklin, the state Board of Elections spokesman, said Nov. 5 when we had different numbers: "If his margin was 4,000 votes and we have 6,000 absentees back, he's going to have to get 80 percent. I've never heard of a situation that broke that way."

State Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine, D-Cape Vincent, said he’s always opposed a budget item that requires New Yorkers to pay $25 for new license plates starting in May.

The senator said in a statement that he worked to eliminate “many of the nickel and dime proposals,” but the plate renewal “remained as we passed on an on-time budget.”

Mr. Aubertine voted for the budget. The senator said he now has the “opportunity to eliminate this burden” during ongoing discussions on how to reduce the state’s estimated $3.2 billion deficit this year.

“My upstate colleagues and I believe we can work with the governor to find other ways to make up the revenue from this proposal before it goes into effect,” he said.

The state is expected to make $129 million from the fee.

The plate fee is also opposed in the Senate by Democrats David J. Valesky, Oneida; Neil D. Breslin, Albany and William T. Stachowski, Buffalo, as well as most of the Republican conference.

The Post-Standard's story today about the 23rd Congressional District race cited vote totals from the state Board of Elections to help make its point about how close the race still is. The state elections board, however, appears to have provided the paper with now outdated figures.

Here are the most up-to-date unofficial results. There are at least 5,400 absentee ballots returned that have not been counted. That process starts Tuesday.

Mr. Hoffman was trailing Mr. Owens by 557 votes in Jefferson County on Election Day. However, a recanvass of machines found missing votes for all three candidates, but mostly for the Conservative Party candidate. Mr. Hoffman now leads in the county by 424 votes, a swing of 981 votes.

Mr. Hoffman won seven of the 11 counties, although the four counties with the smallest voter turnouts - Lewis, Oswego, Oneida and Fulton - went for him. He also captured the two counties with the race's highest voter turnout: Madison and Hamilton counties.

The difference in the race currently - 3,176 votes - is almost the same as the difference in Mr. Owens' lead over Mr. Hoffman in Clinton County.

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