Petition will delay swearing in of county commissioners

NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — A recount scheduled for tomorrow in New Hanover County is now cancelled according to Derek Bowens with the Board of Elections. Bowens said the board will meet on December 1, 2016.

Also to be discussed at the meeting was a protest filed with the county’s board of elections alleging a “scheme to operate an absentee ballot mill” during the general election. John Christian Anderson is the man who filed the petition. This is not the first time Anderson has filed a similar complaint. Back in 2014 he filed a protest that delayed the swearing in of Skip Watkins and Rob Zapple.

Jonathan Washburn with the Board of Elections said that it would be added to the scheduled recount tomorrow, but the meeting is now cancelled. Washburn said the board will review the protest and then determine whether the facts alleged support a full hearing later.