As I pointed out last week, continued vote counting in the NY-22 race put Republican Claudia Tenney back in the lead by about 30 votes. But that total is unofficial until Judge DelConte rules which ballots will be counted and which won’t be. Today, DelConte returned to work and is reportedly going through nearly 2,000 disputed ballots one by one. Reporter Andrew Donovan was covering the action and noted that Judge DelConte quickly got angry with the attorney for Democrat Anthony Brindisi.

NEW YEAR, OLD ELECTION: Their congressional colleagues were sworn in yesterday, but today @RepBrindisi and @ClaudiaTenney, via their attorneys, are back in court. The Supreme Court justice is expected to hear arguments on the validity of about 2,500 challenged ballots. #NY22 pic.twitter.com/0tGeXQGgw4

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Less than an hour later, the judge was furious:

Wow! I haven’t seen Justice DelConte get this mad.

When @RepBrindisi’s attorney explained that a ballot cast in Norwich was marked by the Board of Elections as the incorrect election district, the judge demanded to know their argument on whether it should count. #NY22 pic.twitter.com/xolV3oC9sr

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Attorney clarified: "We've taken the position that voters who vote in wrong polling place should count."

Justice demands arguments from both sides after 5-min. recess answering: should ballots cast at wrong polling place count?

"Let's get at this," the judge says. #NY22

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Judge to Brindisi attorney: "That really means any voter in the State of New York can pick whatever polling place they want to go to, drive to and vote… that's what you're asking to find as a matter of law?"

Attorney: "Not quite your honor."

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

There was an excellent primer published by Syracuse.com yesterday which helps explain what the judge is angry about:

Some voters in the 22nd District voted in the wrong polling site and wrong voting district. Brindisi’s attorneys say those votes should count. The voters were allowed to vote by affidavit or provisional ballots. Those are paper ballots given to voters at polling sites when their names or signatures are missing from poll books.

The 2019 election law made it possible to still count ballots cast in the wrong voting district as long as the person voted at the correct polling site. A common scenario is they show up to a polling place that is hosting more than one voting district covering several lower-level races. They could end up in the wrong line, which Brindisi’s attorneys said amounts to voting in the “right church” but “wrong pew.”

Additionally, Brindisi’s attorneys are arguing that voters who voted in the wrong polling site should not lose their votes, saying that poll workers should have informed them that their votes were cast in error.

By casting this as an error made by poll workers, Brindisi’s attorney is essentially saying the voters themselves should be forgiven. But Tenney’s camp takes the opposite view arguing that voting in the wrong place is an error by the voter and is their responsibility not that of the poll worker. A county election commissioner said Tenney’s view is closer to the current interpretation of state law.

Czarny, the Onondaga County election commissioner, thinks Brindisi will have a hard time convincing the judge.

“I think that’s going to be a tougher lift. By the way, I think that should be the law. That’s a reform that I have personally advocated for,” he said. “… But that has been litigated many times and I have not seen it be successful. … It is pretty clear in New York election law that you have to be in the right polling place.”

So that’s why Judge DelConte is upset. The law says the voter has to be at the right polling site and Brindisi’s attorney is arguing for so much latitude that, potentially, a voter could show up at any polling place in the state and still have their vote count.

And this pattern repeats with other contested ballots. Brindisi’s camp wants to overlook voter errors of every possible kind and Tenney wants the judge to stick to the law.

Judge: "This voter did not answer the question: 'are you a citizen of the United States?' Did not answer the question: 'are you older than 18 years of age?'

This voter could have been 12 years old." #NY22 https://t.co/rvKvH2RZf9

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Tenney's team argues some ballots are invalid because the signature and the historical signature on file don't match.

Brindisi's team is arguing why the signatures do match, like forensic evidence.

"the same looping pattern"

"distinctive H in distinctive cursive script"#NY22 pic.twitter.com/pQmAVYu4rD

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Loot at all those ballots making #NY22 a mess. pic.twitter.com/V9qt07tp06

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021

Tensions are clearly running high. As I was writing this another update appeared. An attorney has just been removed for cursing in the virtual courtroom:

F-bombs flying in #NY22 legal battle.

Seemingly frustrated with her computer, an attorney said: "What the f***?" in the virtual courtroom.

The judge screamed: "Who said that? Who said that?" When she identified herself, the judge ordered her removal from the virtual proceeding. pic.twitter.com/7V9OdkZXRL

— Andrew Donovan (@AndrewDonovan) January 4, 2021