Houle Sues Skoufis, Orange County Elections Board Over Results

ORANGE COUNTY, NY — Republican state Senate candidate Dorey Houle, who was vying with Democrat James Skoufis to represent the 42nd state Senate District, filed a lawsuit against the state Board of Elections, the Orange County Board of Elections and Skoufis.

Houle’s lawsuit challenges the counting of ballots cast during the Tuesday’s election.

She contends the Orange County Board of Elections is in possession of ballots that have not been counted — specifically 501 unopened ballots and an undetermined number of affidavit ballots — and that there were several voting machines that were defective, resulting in inaccurate tallies of votes.

Houle is seeking a court order to preserve all ballots and voting materials, poll books, spoiled ballots and more related to the election of the state senator for the 42nd District.

She also wants the court to declare her the duly elected candidate to represent the state Senate District 42.

According to the state Board of Elections website, with 100 percent of districts reporting, Skoufis leads Houle 48,661 votes to 47,491 votes.

Skoufis is currently the state senator for Senate District 39.

Patch has reached out to Skoufis and the Orange County Board of Elections for comment, but did not immediately receive a response.

The new 42nd New York Senate District is made up of most of Orange County, not including the towns of Newburgh and Montgomery.

This is a developing story, so check back with Patch for updates.