RALEIGH, N.C. — With county boards of elections finishing their official canvass of midterm results on Friday, Nov. 13, the clock is now running for North Carolina candidates who finished close behind to ask for a recount.
In races that are not statewide, a candidate who is behind can seek a recount if the gap is no more than 1% of all ballots cast in the race. Statewide contests use a tighter bar: half of 1% or 10,000 votes, whichever is smaller. State election officials said no statewide race this year appears near enough to reach it.
For contests a county board oversees, a written request must reach that board before 5 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 16. Contests handled at the state level, which include U.S. House seats, legislative districts that cross county lines and judicial races, carry a deadline of noon on Tuesday, Nov. 17.
Any recount starts next week with every ballot in the contest fed back through a tabulator, and the machine recounts are expected to be done by Nov. 23. County boards cover the cost, the work is open to the public, and boards must post notice at least 48 hours ahead. Observers cannot photograph or film anything that would capture a voted ballot.
Recount teams are bipartisan pairs. Ballots a machine rejects are counted by hand by a four-member bipartisan team, and questions of voter intent go to at least three county board members, including at least one from each major party.
After the machines finish, the candidate still behind has one day to ask that people count by hand the ballots from a randomly drawn 3% sample of precincts and early voting sites. Should that sample, scaled up to the full contest, point to a reversed result, state officials order every ballot counted by hand.
Voters and candidates may also file an election protest alleging misconduct or irregularities that changed a result. State board members are set to meet Nov. 24 to consider certifying the election statewide.
Section: More Raleigh NC politics news
Filed under: Raleigh NC Politics News
