About 450 absentee ballots to determine outstanding races

County officials plan to count about 450 remaining absentee ballots Friday to determine the outcomes of two Southold Town races that remain up in the air. 

According to Southold GOP chairman Peter McGreevy, 414 of the 626 absentee ballots sent out had been returned as of Tuesday. Of those, 173 came from registered Republican, 133 from Democrats, 21 from Independence Party members, 11 from Conservatives, two from the Working Families Party, one from the Green Party and 73 from blanks.

Additionally, there are 40 affidavit ballots to be counted and 193 ballots that have not yet been received. Absentee ballots must have been postmarked by Election Day. Nineteen ballots were disqualified, Mr. McGreevy said.

As of Nov. 3, Brian Hughes led William Goggins by 180 votes in the race for Southold Town justice. Mr. Hughes ran on the Democratic and Sustainable Southold lines, while Mr. Goggins ran under the banner of the Republican, Conservative, Independence and Reform parties.

For Town Trustee, incumbent Republican David Bergen is currently ahead of Glenn Goldsmith by only five votes for the second open seat. Matthew Kapell finished about 300 votes behind Mr. Bergen. Nick Krupski garnered the most votes and is guaranteed one of the two available seats.

Photo Caption: Democratic justice candidate Brian Hughes flashes a smile on Election night last week. (Credit: Chris Lisinski)