Regarding Kathryn’s Corner item about Kirsten Gillibrand’s vote being challenged: Spurious vote challenges have a long history in that region. In 1804 Martin Van Buren had recently returned to Kinderhook after a few years in Manhattan. When he tried to vote in the gubernatorial election, a rival challenged his ballot on the grounds that he had not resided in the district long enough. I believe that similar grounds were used to challenge Van Buren (unsuccessfully, as before) when he tried to vote for his own re-election as president in 1840.