Parry Teasdale is reporting for The Columbia Paper that as of noon December 4, the final results of the November 5 general election in for Columbia County had not yet been certified by the county Board of Elections. County election commissioners said this week the absentee and affidavit ballots had been counted in only two races, those for Ghent Town Board and Copake Town Supervisor. In a new twist to the ongoing saga, officials now say fleas are likely to blame for the 700 ballots that could not be counted on the first day of early voting. According to Columbia County Democratic Election Commissioner Virginia Martin, the ballots that could not be counted were scanned by machines that had been moved from one storage space to another at the county office building because of an infestation of fleas at 401 State Street. The vendor that supplies the ballot scanning machine “did not calibrate the printer after moving it,” according to Martin. That was despite the decision to hire the vendor to move the machine instead of having county workers move it because they wanted the machines handled by the experts. The commissioners are now investigating the possibility of filing a claim against the scanning machine vendor. Martin said the Board of Elections “will have a new vendor come in and make sure the calibration is perfect and the belts are tightened. We’re very confident that our ballots for the next election will work just fine.” However, there remains some dispute over the status of the flea infestation at the county building. Read the full story in The Columbia Paper.