On Friday, county boards of elections held their public meetings at 11 am, during which election results were certified. During these meetings, the mandatory hand count of two precincts, early voting sites, or absentee ballots occurred in each county. A bipartisan panel conducts these hand counts during the public meetings.
In a razor-thin race, Republican Jefferson Griffin beat out incumbent Democrat Allison Riggs for associate justice on the NC Supreme Court by less than 1 percent and just over 3500 votes. Other close races include state Senate district 18 and House districts 25 and 32. In the state Senate District 18, Republican Ashlee Bryan Adams beat out Democrat Terence Everitt by just five votes. In House District 25, Republican incumbent Rep. Allen Chesser won re-election over Democratic challenger Lorneza Wilkins by just over 400 votes. Lastly, House District 32 Democrat Bryan Cohn beat out Republican Frank Sossamon by just over 1,000 votes, according to NCSBE election results.
“The time between election night and the county canvass can be frustrating for a lot of voters, but (with the exception of a small number of military and overseas votes) these are not new ballots being added after election day but ballots that election boards have had in their possession since election day or earlier/ For example, election boards need time to investigate some ballots to determine if they were legally cast,” Dr. Andy Jackson, Director of the Civitas Center for Public Integrity at the John Locke Foundation told the Carolina Journal. “Election results are almost never changed from the unofficial count on election night to the official count at the county canvasses.”
Military and overseas ballots were required to arrive at the county boards of elections offices by 5 pm on Thursday, Nov 14.
“We are extraordinarily grateful to our county boards of elections, our county election staffs, and the thousands of poll workers who made the 2024 general election a success in a highly charged political environment,” Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) said in a press release. “Our work is not done. State and county elections officials take many steps after every election to ensure all eligible votes are counted and the results are checked, double-checked, and accurate. That process started today.”
Any recounts of races would be conducted after Nov. 15.
The process also resolves problems that may have arisen during the election, such as voter ID verification and provisional ballots. Following the canvass process, candidates within a 1% margin for non-statewide races can request a recount until next Tuesday.
Democrat Nicole Sidman, who ran in Mecklenburg County’s House District 105 against Republican incumbent Tricia Cotham, is behind by 216 votes. In a post on X, Sidman indicated that she may request a recount as the results become official.
According to reports, a recount can cost between $60,000 and $80,000.
Our campaign has always been transparent, so I want to be clear: most recounts do not change the final result of the election. Our chance of success is low, but our race is close enough that a tabulation error or mixup at one precinct on election night could be the difference.
— Nicole for NC (@nicolefornc) November 15, 2024
“Some county election boards have added unnecessary drama to the state Supreme Court race by sitting on the absentee ballots they received on election day rather than tabulating them the day after,” concluded Jackson.” The General Assembly may want to look at requiring county boards to count and submit those results earlier in the process.”
The state board canvass will take place on Tuesday, November 26th, at 11 am, when the NCSBE will certify all election results. Races are only considered official once certified by the NCSBE. The board with jurisdiction over that race will issue a certificate of election to the prevailing candidate. The NCSBE will also issue a post-election audit report.