By Patrick Gannon
N.C. Board of Elections
Election officials across North Carolina including Clay County will conduct a statewide, machine recount of the ballots in the Supreme Court associate justice contest, beginning Wednesday, Nov. 20, according to the N.C. Board of Elections.
On Tuesday, Jefferson G. Griffin, the Republican candidate in that race, requested a recount. As it currently stands, Griffin trails Democratic candidate Allison Riggs by 625 votes. For statewide contests, the vote difference must be 10,000 votes or fewer for a second-place candidate to demand a recount, according to the BOE.
The recount results will be the official results in that contest.
“Recounts are a regular part of the elections process when contests are close, and they help ensure that the results are accurate and that the public can have confidence that the candidate who received the most votes wins the election,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections. “Recounts are conducted by bipartisan teams and are open to the public whenever and wherever they occur.”
Most of the 100 counties including Clay County will begin their recounts on Wednesday. In Clay County that count started at 7 a.m.
All recounts should be completed no later than Nov. 27.
Bipartisan teams of election officials at the 100 county boards of elections will conduct the recounts. Costs associated with recounts are paid through county funds.
As part of the recount, the bipartisan teams will insert every ballot cast in the election into a tabulator, counting only the contest or contests eligible for the recount.
Small variances are expected between the canvassed results and the recount results. Because ballots are scanned again through the tabulator, which may be a different tabulator, partial or stray marks on the ballot may be counted differently the second time.
The recount was open to the public.