The Durham County Board of Elections (as well as many of the other local boards of elections in North Carolina) worked through the Veterans Day holiday today. All 100 local boards are busy with the post-election processes that will eventually get them to the point of certifying their county’s election results. The post-election work across the state is under particular scrutiny because of the razor close gubernatorial race. At this time, Gov. Pat McCrory trails challenger Roy Cooper by 4,979 votes.
The McCrory campaign had voiced concerns over possible irregularities in Durham County after eight precincts’ voting hours were extended on Election Day and after the county BOE reported 90,000 votes late on Election Night. Those late votes pushed Cooper ahead of McCrory by just a few thousand votes. Gov. McCrory has not conceded the election and appears to be headed for a recount.
This wasn’t the first time the Durham County BOE had problems this year. In May, after the March 2016 primary, it was discovered that a BOE staff member had counted more than 200 provisional ballots twice when the number of voters didn’t match the number of ballots cast.
This afternoon the Durham County BOE began work on their 1,768 provisional ballots. Kate Cosner, chief of staff and interim director, directed the staff on the correct way to input provisional information. Once the information is entered into the provisional system, the board staff will begin investigating each voter and ultimately the three county board members will make the decision as to whether to count their votes. Only a few, of what appeared to be, political activists were at the Durham BOE this afternoon to observe the process. It will take several days to complete the process.
It has been reported that there are more than 50,000 provisional ballots yet to be processed and there are more absentee ballots to be counted, undoubtedly changing the final results.
In every election, in all 100 counties, all provisional ballots are investigated and if the voter is eligible, their votes are counted. A provisional ballot is a safety net provided to all voters who have voter registration problems when they go to cast their votes, especially on Election Day.
While there are different reasons why a voter would vote a provisional ballot, unreported moves seem to be the reason most vote provisionally. A voter who fails to update his address after a move in the county would be allowed to vote a provisional ballot. The ballot is then returned to the local BOE office where the staff investigates the voter’s eligibility.
According to the State Board of Elections (SBOE), the deadline for mail-in absentee ballots postmarked on or before Election Day is November 14 at 5 p.m. November 17 is the deadline for overseas and military absentee ballots.
County BOE’s are scheduled to certify results (county canvass) at 11 a.m. on Nov. 18.
After the county canvass and before noon on Nov. 22, a statewide candidate may demand a recount. In order to demand a recount, the vote difference must be less than 10,000 votes. All 100 counties perform their own recounts.
Only after the State Canvass, scheduled for 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29, are results considered official.
All Board of Elections meetings are open to the public.
I was listening in on the conference call as a concerned citizen on election eve, when there was a last minute challenge issued by the NAACP for the State Elections Board to extend those voting hours an additional two hours because one polling station (in a parking lot) as described by board members, had a power outage which made them go down for that amount of time.
Not being critical of the NAACP, and not being critical of the State Board of Elections here, but I have to say that a polling place in the open out of doors reminds me of those Christmas Tree Lots set up in parking lots at the Christmas season. It was noted in the conference call that this same location had problems in the past.
Such a location should not be allowed for many reasons, but the biggest reason it should not be allowed is that it has affected the election in a bad way. I am not very happy with what I am seeing with the results.
It really doesn’t surprise me at all. The extension alone is suspect but add to that the type of voting station is really
Off the charts. But if they can’t win one way they resort to
Trickery, you’ve got to take it from whence it comes.
We need to stop fearing saying no to people because of their minority status and entreat everyone equally. Close this area down and have everyone vote in legetimate polling areas to avoid such issues. One time it should have been corrected. Now we have the second time an issue has happened with this particular polling place. Sounds like time for change to me