POUGHKEEPSIE, N.Y. -- At a long table, campaign lawyers watch as Columbia County's Election Board counts its absentee ballots. Tension built by the minute.

Three districts got counted Monday. The snail’s pace is mostly because of ballot objections. Republican Jim Tedisco's legal team objected to 38 Democratic ballots, mostly because they think the voters primary residence isn't in Columbia County.

"We are saying people who are eligible to vote in Columbia County, we want their votes counted. The people who are not eligible, they shouldn't be counted," said Tedisco's campaign lawyer James Walsh.

The Murphy campaign says it only challenged one ballot here Monday. A Columbia County election commissioner says overall, more than 100 ballots have been challenged out of the about 250 processed.

"We are examining the validity of those votes. We want to make sure no fraud is carried out and no fraud is committed," said Walsh.

"At this rate, we will be counting ballots for the next couple of weeks," said Henry Berger, Murphy campaign lawyer.

One by one, the names of people whose ballots are out for now are read off. A judge will decide if they will be brought back. Every vote counts seeing late Monday Democrat Scott Murphy leads Tedisco by 25 votes.

"We have to get this process completed and there is a deliberate effort to slow down the process in places that Scott Murphy won," said Berger.

Monday was also the deadline for boards to get military and overseas ballots. Tedisco's camp wrote the State Election Board and the Department of Justice, asking to give them more time. Murphy's campaign says it isn't against it, but it would require a new court order. And while both sides showed up, court was cancelled after a judge was hospitalized.

Supreme County Judge James Brand is expected to be out of the hospital and ready to hear arguments on Wednesday in Poughkeepsie.