The state Republican Party reports that Chuck Stuber, the GOP nominee for state auditor, is prepared to seek a recount in his race against incumbent Democrat Beth Wood after the votes have been canvassed. Roughly 2,700 votes separate the two candidates of nearly 4.5 million cast pending a statewide ballot canvass. If either Wood or Stuber has a margin of fewer than 10,000 ballots when the election results are certified, the trailing candidate can request a recount.
In addition, citing allegations of double voting and ballots cast by felons and deceased voters, Gov. Pat McCrory’s re-election campaign says election protests have been filed in 50 counties.
In a press release, the Pat McCrory Committee stated:
The protests urge each county board of elections conduct a full scale investigation into these absentee ballots and review all witness signatures on these absentee ballot envelopes to look for evidence of obvious ballot harvesting, which could impact thousands of votes. These protests also request that the county election boards conduct this review before certifying the final number of lawful votes during their respective canvasses.
Protests are being filed by registered voters with each county elections boards to void anywhere between 100 to 200 ballots cast by suspected felons, dead people and double voters …
Meantime, the State Board of Elections reports that “many, if not all” 100 counties are expected to ask for a delay in their canvasses to deal with issues relating to ballots cast by residents whose registrations may not have been handled properly by the Division of Motor Vehicles. A federal court order issued last month required the state to count provisional ballots cast by individuals who registered or changed registrations at DMV offices once their registrations are verified. The state board says it’s still waiting for a full list of those voters from the DMV.
This delay could push the certification of the election back from its scheduled Nov. 29 date by as much as 10 days, to Dec. 9.