3,400 uncounted ballots could change outcome of New Hanover County commissioners, school board race
NEW HANOVER COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — Two key races in New Hanover County remain too close to call after Board of Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens revealed in a statement Wednesday that more than 3400 absentee and provisional ballots are still uncounted.
These ballots—which include around 1500 absentee-by-mail ballots, and more than 1900 provisional ballots—could change the outcome of the county commissioner’s race and the school board race.
The ballots will be reviewed and counted at the board’s next absentee review on November 14, just one day before they are certified.
With about 3,400 ballots outstanding, candidates currently in second through fifth place still have a chance to secure one of the top three seats in the commissioner race.
Republican candidate John Hinnant, currently in fifth, said he’s awaiting the count but doubts the extra ballots will change the outcome.
“There might be small changes, but I anticipate that all six candidates have votes that are being counted. So, we’ll see some of the results move here or there, but if the outcome changes, I’d be very surprised,” Hinnant said.
Democratic candidate Jonathan Barfield Jr., who narrowly lost his incumbent seat by 250 votes in the preliminary results, disagrees.
“Absentee ballots typically they’ll skew one way. And I’m thinking that we’re going to see a change in the outcome of the initial results and again, had the full results been given from the absentee ballots to begin with, we’d probably be having a different conversation today,” Barfield said. “So just patiently waiting on the process to unfold.”
An email from County Manager Chris Coudriet reveals an October 31 administrative cutoff was set for absentee ballots by the county board of elections, though state statutes require all ballots received before election day to be counted on election night.
When asked if this cutoff violates state statutes, Hunter-Havens said the guidance came from the state, due to limited county resources for processing all absentee ballots on election night.
With such tight margins, WWAY also asked Hunter-Havens if candidates can request a recount. She said they’ll have until Monday, November 18th at 5:00 pm to do so after votes are certified on the 15th.
WWAY also received a statement from the North Carolina Board of Elections which reads:
“New Hanover County election officials and those in the other 99 counties reported unofficial results on election night and now are addressing the ballots that may be considered during the 10-day certification period, including additional absentee ballots and all provisional ballots.
The goal of county boards of elections is to count and report all ballots that can possibly be counted on election night. However, with limited resources and hundreds, if not thousands of absentee ballots coming in during the final days before election night, sometimes it is extremely difficult to count them all on election night. Processing absentee ballots is time-consuming work that involves many steps, including reviewing the absentee envelopes for the proper signatures and witness information and ensuring proper chain of custody and reconciliation procedures are followed. And this all must happen while county boards are preparing precincts for Election Day, ensuring poll workers are ready, and fulfilling many other responsibilities. These tasks have been made more time-consuming and labor-intensive due to recent changes in the laws for absentee voting and photo identification.
Winners can’t always be determined on election night, particularly in close contests, because absentee and provisional ballots must be counted post-election, according to the law. The State Board routinely reminds the public and media about this in press releases and press conferences. In a high turnout election, such as a presidential election, the numbers of absentee and provisional ballots will be greater than in other elections and may increase the likelihood that contests could hinge on the counting of these ballots. This has always been the case.”
