The New Hanover County Board of Elections will count the remaining ballots Thursday afternoon despite wanting them counted sooner.
The results could impact the outcomes of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and school board races.
Republican member of the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners and candidate Dane Scalise filed an election protest Tuesday to have ballots counted as quickly as possible.
Scalise noted in the protest document that there are 1,357 votes between his current second-place finish and first place next to Republican incumbent candidate Bill Rivenbark. The margins for Scalise’s position and Democrat Stephanie Walker’s current third-place finish are much smaller with 253 votes separating the two. The narrowest margin is between Walker and current Democratic incumbent candidate Jonathan Barfield Jr., who is in fourth place.
As the results currently stand, Barfield and Walker are close enough that Barfield could request a recount. But with more than 1,900 absentee ballots up for counting and more than 400 provisional ballots recommended for approval, the results could change.
Scalise noted in the protest that he is unsure whether the outcome of the election will change, but that there was an error in the way the votes were counted or the results were tabulated sufficient to cast doubt on the apparent results of the elections.
In the protest document, he also noted that there had been a violation of the electoral law, irregularities or misconduct sufficient to cast doubt on the apparent results of the election.
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According to North Carolina General Statute 163-234, “absentee ballots received before Election Day shall be counted on Election Day.” The local election board implemented an administrative limit on absentee ballots received after Oct. 31, meaning those ballots were not included in election night results.
County Manager Chris Coudriet also requested that the local board move the date forward, but because the board passed a resolution setting the date for counting additional absentee ballots as Nov. 14, they said they could not change it .
According to emails between Coudriet and the commissioners, local elections officials said the State Board of Elections provided guidance on implementing the administrative shutdown.
However, a spokesperson for the State Board, Patrick Gannon, stated in an email response to StarNews that the State Board had not provided counties with statewide guidance not to count absentee ballots received before Election Day on Election Night.
“If New Hanover County believed this was the state’s guidance, it was due to some type of miscommunication or misunderstanding,” Gannon said.
Scalise noted in the protest document that the local election board has failed to provide any discernible legal justification for its refusal to act in accordance with state law, “and its continued refusal seriously and irreparably harms candidates and citizens.”
During their meeting Tuesday evening, Board Chairman Derrick R. Miller, when asked about their compliance with North Carolina General Statute 163-234, said the Board of Elections “has followed the State Board’s guidelines to the best of our judgment,” but those questions will continue to exist. be rushed out.
Scalise also noted that the local election board has denied representatives of his campaign access to view absentee ballot envelopes, which his attorney Phillip J. Strach said violates state law since absentee ballot envelopes are public records.
Scalise, in the protest, requested an immediate inspection of all affected absentee ballot envelopes.
Elections staff will begin counting the remaining ballots on Thursday from 2 p.m. Elections director Rae Hunter-Havens said results could be available as early as 10 p.m. All results remain unofficial until the election at 11 a.m. Friday.
This article originally appeared on the Wilmington StarNews: Election workers in New Hanover count remaining ballots
