Candidates speak out as thousands of ballots remain uncounted in New Hanover County

WILMINGTON, NC (WWAY) — There are still several more days before an additional 3,400 ballots are counted by the New Hanover County Board of Elections, which could affect the County Commissioner and Board of Education races.

According to the county Board of Elections, an estimated 1,500 absentee ballots and 1,900 provisional ballots have remained uncounted since last week’s election.

The Board said the ballots wouldn’t be counted until Thursday, just one day before the county holds its canvass to certify the election results.

In the County Commissioner race, incumbent Dane Scalise has just a 254 vote lead over Stephanie Walker, who is in 3rd place, and just a 502 vote lead over fellow County Commissioner Jonathan Barfield Jr in 4th place.

Scalise said the County Board of Elections has broken state law and that transparency is needed during this process.

“So there is confusion over why the New Hanover County Board of Elections has elected not to follow the law that is on the books in North Carolina,” Scalise said. “That creates concern for anybody that is in this situation, not just me, all of the candidates, as well as the people of New Hanover County who at this time do not know what is going to happen.”

New Hanover County Board of Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens sent WWAY a statement that said:

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. 

Board of Education candidate Tim Merrick currently sits in second place in that race, but less than 2,000 votes separate him from Nikki Bascome in 5th place.

He said the County Board of Elections has done a great job getting through this election season and needs more support going forward.

“I think what we need to do is remember how important our elections are,” Merrick said. “How well they have, and how, how little turmoil we’ve had. We’ve had zero evidence of any funny business. Would we have liked those votes to be counted earlier? Of course we would. Lets increase their budget for next year so that doesn’t happen.”

Scalise and Merrick said they would be fine with the results if any changes occur once the ballots are counted on Thursday.