Bishop Reportedly Makes More Gains on 2nd Day of Absentee Counts

As of Tuesday's dinner break, preliminary absentee ballot counts in the First Congressional District race reportedly continued to sway in favor of Rep. Tim Bishop, D - Southampton. Bishop's spokesman, Jon Schneider, said , the four-term incumbent had gained 83 votes, putting him down an even 300. 

Schneider was further hopeful considering that 24 out of 30 election districts counted yesterday, and more today, came from Smithtown, home of Bishop's challenger, Randy Altschuler. Six more election districts remain to be counted in Smithtown, with over 300 remaining out of 460 districtwide.

"The fact that we're chipping away at his lead and have essentially done that while moving through Randy's strongest town is an encouraging sign for us," said Schneider.

After counting ballots on two tables yesterday, election workers in Yaphank added several counting tables today, said Altschuler's spokesman, Rob Ryan. The process of counting over 11,000 absentee and affidavit ballots isn't expected to be complete until early next week.

"This will be going up and down," said Ryan. "That's usually how these things work."

Officials with the Board of Elections noted no problems during Tuesday's audit of electronic voting machines.

Check back later for a complete update on Tuesday's absentee ballot count.