LUMBERTON, N.C. — Control of the North Carolina Senate may hinge on a Robeson County-centered race that remains unfinished, as election boards keep counting provisional and overseas ballots that could erase Republican Sen. Danny Britt’s slim lead.
Unofficial returns with every precinct in show Britt ahead of Democrat Catina Hamm by 268 votes in Senate District 24, which covers Robeson, Hoke and Scotland counties. Britt has 27,860 votes, or 50.24%, to Hamm’s 27,592, or 49.76%.
County boards are still reviewing more than 800 provisional ballots — 533 in Robeson, 162 in Hoke and 131 in Scotland — along with cured absentee ballots and military or overseas ballots that can arrive through Nov. 12. Eligible provisional and cured absentee ballots are due to be counted by Nov. 10, with county canvass meetings set for Nov. 13.
If Britt’s lead stands, Republicans would keep the 50-seat Senate 26-24. A Hamm win would leave each party with 25 seats, and Democratic Lt. Gov. Rachel Hunt would break ties, pairing with Democratic Gov. Josh Stein and a newly Democratic House majority.
The current gap is about 0.48 percentage points, inside the 1% margin that lets a trailing candidate in a non-statewide race demand a recount after county canvass. Because the district spans multiple counties, any recount request would go to North Carolina’s elections board by noon Nov. 17, and that board is scheduled to certify the race at its Nov. 24 statewide canvass.
North Carolina’s elections board has said Election Night totals are unofficial by design and that counties will add eligible provisional, cured absentee and late-arriving military ballots while removing ballots that fail eligibility checks before certification.
Robeson County elections director Jessica Davis said staff are focused on deciding which provisional voters are eligible, and that boards will also run the required sample hand-count audits that compare machine totals with hand tallies in randomly selected precincts.
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Filed under: Raleigh NC Politics News
