(Associated Press Photo)

NEW YORK – On January 4 a court will decide how to count disputed votes in an extremely close race between Claudia Tenney and Anthony Brindisi for New York's 22nd Congressional District.

More than 300,000 ballots were cast in the election and the race's outcome is being determine by a handful of votes in a courtroom. Thousands of ballots were challenged during the election process and their fate could decide the outcome.

With all the uncontested ballots for the 22nd congressional now re-canvassed, Republican candidate Tenney said final counts give her a current 27-vote lead over Rep. Anthony Brindisi.

“With Oneida County completing its review of over 1700 affidavit (provisional) ballots, there are no uncontested or undisputed ballots left and Tenney remains ahead of incumbent Anthony Brindisi,” the campaign reported Tuesday.

On January 4 New York Supreme Court Judge Scott DelConte will review the hundreds of ballots disputed by the Tenney or Brindisi campaigns and determine if they should be included or excluded from the vote tallies.

Claudia Tenney said, “Throughout this long process, we have fought to ensure that every legal vote is counted. Now that every undisputed ballot has been counted twice, we are still in the lead. This process has exposed a very flawed electoral system that needs to be fixed. We remain confident that once the contested ballots are reviewed by the court and the facts accurately applied according to the law, I will be declared the winner, certified, seated, and head to Congress to serve all the people of New York’s 22nd District. I look forward to resuming my compassionate advocacy on behalf of our region.”