The outcome of the nail-biter in the new 46th Senate District won't be known for at least two weeks because the deadline to receive absentee ballots doesn't hit until Nov. 19.

But some boards of elections could start counting as early as Friday, as they had already scheduled to begin absentee ballot counting on that date.

When all machine votes were counted Tuesday, Democrat Cecilia Tkaczyk led Republican George Amedore by 139 votes. But the outcome will be decided by the absentee ballots. So far, 8,571 absentee ballots have been received by boards of elections in Montgomery, Schenectady, Albany, Greene and Ulster counties, said state Board of Elections spokesman John Conklin. Tkacyzk's camp says there are 226 more absentee ballots from enrolled Democrats than Republicans. The number will change daily as more absentees trickle in.

The state Senate GOP carved out the new district for Amedore, an assemblyman who represents two counties in the new Senate district. But Tkaczyk, a former legislative aide to Senate Democrats who is vice president of the Duanesburg school board, put on a hard push in the last weeks, getting a $500,000 cash infusion from Democratic super PACs.

The political action committees targeted certain state races.

Amedore was slightly ahead for much of Tuesday night. But Ulster County results showed Tkaczyk had crushed Amedore there by 8,199 votes. Tkaczyk also took Albany County.

Amedore won Montgomery, Schenectady and Greene counties.

On Wednesday morning, Amedore's campaign filed a show-cause order in state Supreme Court in Montgomery County that calls for ballots to be secured before they are counted — a standard move made in close races. Conklin said the ballots most likely will be secured in their home counties.

Conklin also said the counties could start counting on the day each originally scheduled for absentee tallies. In Schenectady, it's Friday. In Greene and Montgomery counties, it's Tuesday, and for Albany and Ulster, Wednesday. But they the boards cannot certify the vote until after Nov. 19. However, since Amedore has already filed an order in court, a judge could determine what the counting schedule will be.

Amedore spokesman Kris Thompson said they believe the absentee ballots will shake out in favor of the GOP. "Our campaign team implemented an ambitious absentee program in the early stages of this race," Thompson said in a statement. "We firmly believe that once all the votes have been verified and counted, George Amedore will be the senator."

Meanwhile, attorneys from the state Democratic conference were also huddling to see what their next move should be. "We're confident her victory will be confirmed and solidified," Tkaczyk spokesman Gary Ginsburg said.

The state extended the deadline for absentee ballots by one week in the wake of Superstorm Sandy. Voters could also file affidavit ballots if they were displaced from their usual polling locations as a result of the storm. But those ballots will not count in the 46th race, because those affected by the storm could only vote in national and statewide elections.

Confusion Tuesday at polling sites at the University at Albany might also have an impact on the 46th race.

Albany County elections officials were sorting through piles of affidavit — or paper — ballots cast when hundreds of students arrived at the polls to find that their names were not in the poll books. Democratic Elections Commissioner Matthew Clyne and Republican Rachel Bledi said it's not clear how many paper ballots, which are not counted in the voting machines on election night, are from the one election district on the campus that is in Guilderland and is part of the 46th.

Those votes would count because they are based on registration disputes, not the Superstorm Sandy displacements.

Based on the machine count in that district, any valid affidavits could break in Tkaczyk's favor. Tkaczyk beat Amedore 310 to 59 there among regular voters.

Staff writer Jordan Carleo-Evangelist contributed.