NY-23 count tightens a little bit

UPDATE: The latest returns from the BOE come via Jude Seymour and the WDT. They show Owens with a 3,176 vote lead.

The 23rd Congressional district special election lives on! And not just in Monday morning quarterbacking.

Turns out the state Board of Elections is still counting the votes, and Conservative Doug Hoffman has reduced the margin he trails Democrat Bill Owens to some 3,026 votes. It was 5,335 votes at the end of election night. The Syracuse Post-Standard has led the pack on this story. In the article, BOE spokesman John Conklin explains how Owens came to be sworn in, even though a winner still hasn't been certified:

Conklin said the state sent a letter to the House Clerk last week explaining that no winner had been determined in the 23rd District, and therefore the state had not certified the election. But the letter noted that Owens still led by about 3,000 votes, and that the special election was not contested -- two factors that legally allowed House Speaker Nancy Pelosi to swear in Owens on Friday.

"We sent a letter to the clerk laying out the totals," Conklin said. "The key is that Hoffman conceded, which means the race is not contested. However, all ballots will be counted, and if the result changes, Owens will have to be removed."

We know that Owens was one of two Democrats who cast the decisive vote passing the health care bill. Nancy Pelosi's motives are clear, but you gotta wonder...aren't there rules about when you can swear in a member of Congress?

UPDATE: NPR's Ken Rudin e-mailed me to say it's perfectly legal to swear in a Congressman before the vote is certified:

You don't have to wait for a certification to be sworn in; for instance, Pawlenty could have sworn in a senator in Minnesota before the state certified a winner. Nor does a concession mean you can't ultimately be the winner. Pelosi obviously needed as many votes as she could get for health care, and that's why she was anxious to get those two more votes. It was smart and clever, and she didn't skirt the law.

We'll have more on this story today on All Before Five.