Winning Margin In NY House 23 Race Tightens

It turns out that the special election last week for the 23rd Congressional District seat in New York may not be over after all.

Although conservative Doug Hoffman conceded and Democrat Bill Owens was sworn into Congress last week, the routine recanvassing of votes shows Owens' lead has narrowed to 3,000 votes. The final outcome will depend on how as-yet uncounted absentee ballots break.

Hoffman admitted defeat when he was told he was down by more than 5,000 votes.

If the count overturns the election, Owens could be removed from office.

The Syracuse Post-Standard first reported that problems in some counties resulted in underreporting of votes for Hoffman on Election Night.

Hoffman's campaign is monitoring the recanvassing. Owens' spokesman didn't immediately return a call.