Lt. Governor's Race Heads into Recount | Eastern North Carolina Now

   In the North Carolina's Lt. Governor's Race, Democrat Linda Coleman lost to Republican Dan Forest by 11,103 votes out of 4,331,101 votes cast for this office. It other words, it was a very close race.

    In North Carolina if the defeated candidate is within 1% of the vote total, they may call for a recount. Since the defeated candidate, Linda Coleman, is well within that tolerance, with only .26% separating the candidates, she has called for a recount as is her right to do so.

Dan Forest (REP)     2,171,102 votes    50.13% Linda D. Coleman (DEM)     2,159,999 votes    49.87%
    Both Candidates are rallying their forces of supporters / contributors to bolster their desired outcome, which will not come without much consternation of all concerned. Hanging in the balance will be one of North Carolina's top positions to be decided by local recounts in all, or part, of North Carolina's 100 counties.

    This is a partisan affair, and is best described by these two letters, here below, sent out by the candidates, who challenge for this position:

Linda D. Coleman (DEM) Requesting the Recount of the Election for the Office of North Carolina's Lt. Governor

Friend,

    Right now this race is too close to call with .00% separating me from my republican opponent.

    While we will not know the final results for a couple of hours.

    We need you your immediate contribution to make sure that every vote is counted and every citizens voice is heard.

    We know the tea party will stop at nothing to win this race and we have to stop them.

    This is one of the closest races in the country and with your help we can make sure that NC has a Democratic Lt Gov and that every vote is counted.

    Linda Coleman

    NC Law requires political committees to report the name, mailing address, occupation, and name of employer for each individual whose contributions aggregate in excess of $50 per election. Contributions from registered lobbyists, corporate or business accounts are prohibited. Contributions are not tax deductible. Paid for by Linda Coleman for Lieutenant Governor.

    Linda Coleman for Lt. Governor
     PO Box 27502
     Raleigh, NC 27611

Dan Forest (REP) Defending his Victory in the Election for the Office of North Carolina's Lt. Governor

Dear Friends,

    As you may know, though we finished the race with the most votes on election night, we face a potential recount in the race. Many of you have asked for an update on the situation, an explanation of the process that is before us and how you can help us protect our hard fought victory. Hopefully, this email will help answer those questions.

    We won on election night with a total vote margin of approximately 11,500 votes out of over 4 million ballots cast statewide. Our opponent did not concede and we have not been certified as the winner. That certification will not take place until all "provisional" and outstanding "absentee" ballots are counted. There are approximately 47,000 of those ballots outstanding statewide.

    Provisional Ballots are ballots cast outside of the normal rules of the election. Usually it is when someone tries to vote at a polling site that is not their polling site, or when a person does not provide a legitimate address for their voting record, etc. In these instances, a person is allowed to vote, but with a ballot that requires greater scrutiny in the counting process to make sure fraud has not occurred. Provisional ballots are not counted on election night. They are counted after the elections when each county board of election has time to analyze the ballot and do the proper research to verify the validity of the ballot.

    Provisional Ballots are "subjectively" analyzed by the local county board of elections in each of the 100 counties. Each county picks the date they will view those ballots. The viewing of those ballots is a "public event", open to members of the general public for viewing. While each county can decide the date to handle those ballots, the process must be completed and the results turned over to the state board of elections no later than Nov. 16th.

    When the provisional ballots are turned over to the State Board, if we continue to maintain a lead in excess of 10,000 votes, the race will be declared over and we will be certified the winner. If however, our lead drops below 10,000 votes, our opponent could then ask for a "recount".

    Our opponent has publicly stated her intent to call for a "recount".

    We are not fearful of a recount situation, as no statewide election in NC has been overturned by a recount. The only downside to the recount is the price tag, as the taxpayers would be on the hook for several million dollars to handle the recount in all 100 counties and our campaign would incur significant legal fees (in the hundreds of thousands) to ensure the integrity of the process in all 100 counties.

    The real challenge is not the "recount" which is pretty easy to monitor and a very objective process. The real challenge is the subjective viewing of the provisional ballots that takes place at the county level next week. Again that process is monitored and under the direct leadership and control of the local county board of elections. Each local county board of elections is governed by a three member board. Each of those boards is comprised of 2 Democrats and 1 Republican member, giving the opposing party majority control of the decisions on how to handle those ballots. Our fate lies in the decisions those boards make.

    Because the provisional ballot decision process is so subjective, we have retained the legal services of a firm that has extensive experience handling recounts in NC state elections. Under their leadership, we are building a legal team and volunteer corps of people to observer the 100 county boards as they handle and vote on the legitimacy of those ballots. This process is a labor intensive and expensive logistical undertaking and we have been working on it around the clock (literally) since Election night.

    Our need right now is financial.  We have extensive legal bills which will grow exponentially if we go to a full-fledged recount. We need you to dig deep and help if you can by making a secure online donation here.

    Our need is immediate - as we retained our legal team 7:30 am the morning after the election and we are working around the clock. If you supported Dan in the election, stand by him now or it could be taken from us.

    Thanks,

    Hal Weatherman
     campaign manager
     Dan Forest for Lt. Governor