Partial Hand Recount to Begin in Senate District 26 Contest | Eastern NC Now

Press Release:

    Raleigh, N.C.     The county boards of elections in Guilford and Rockingham counties on Tuesday morning will begin a partial hand recount of ballots in randomly selected precincts in the N.C. Senate District 26 contest between candidates Phil Berger and Sam Page.

    After a full machine recount of all ballots cast in that contest, Candidate Page leads Candidate Berger by 23 votes, 13,135 to 13,112. State law [N.C.G.S. § 163-182.7A(a)] permits the trailing candidate to request a hand-to-eye recount in a random sample of Election Day precincts or early voting sites within 24 hours after the initial recount. Berger requested the recount.

    On Monday, the State Board of Elections randomly selected two precincts in Guilford County and one precinct in Rockingham County for the hand-to-eye recount. Combined, the three precincts include 1,340 ballots cast in the Senate District 26 contest to be counted by hand.

    Guilford

• JEF1 precinct (McLeansville Baptist Church): 263 ballots
• OR1 precinct (Oak Ridge Town Hall): 617 ballots

    Rockingham

• MO precinct (Monroeton Elementary School): 460 ballots

    Berger must pick up a net two votes in the partial hand-to-eye recount to trigger a full hand recount of all ballots cast in the contest.

    Under state law, the State Board must order a full recount if the trailing candidate makes up enough ground in the sample of precincts such that extrapolating that change to the entire Senate district would result in a different winner of the contest.

    Both counties are expected to begin their recounts Tuesday morning. The Guilford County meeting will begin at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Room L12 of the Guilford County Courthouse, 201 S. Eugene St., Greensboro, N.C.

    The Rockingham County meeting will begin at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday at the Rockingham County Board of Elections Office, 240 Cherokee Camp Road, Reidsville, N.C.

    It is unclear when the county boards will complete their recounts. Recounts are time-consuming work, and all instructions must be followed to ensure fair and accurate results.

    Both recount meetings are open to the public and will be livestreamed. Click on the links above for details. Members of the public may not use video or still cameras inside recount rooms because of the state law that prohibits videotaping or photographing voted ballots. Members of the media may take photos or video before or after the recount, or in a manner that ensures no voted ballot can be recorded.

    Hand-to-Eye Recount Process

    The recounts will be conducted by bipartisan teams of Republicans and Democrats, as described in the memo, "Hand-To-Eye Recount for N.C. Senate District 26 Republican Party Primary." Recounts must be conducted in the presence of a quorum of the county board of elections or a bipartisan team of two board members.

    The board members supervise the recount and make determinations about voter intent if the counting teams have questions about ballot markings. This includes determining whether the contest was clearly left blank on the ballot.

    See the memo linked above for examples of types of ballots markings and whether they should be counted for a candidate.

    Pending Election Protests

    The Berger campaign also has filed election protests in Guilford and Rockingham counties. The county boards will conduct hearings on the protests in the coming days.

    The Rockingham Count Board will hold its hearing at 2 p.m. Friday, March 27, at the Rockingham County Governmental Center, Commissioners Chambers, 371 NC 65, Reidsville.

    The Guilford County Board will hold its protest hearing at 2 p.m. April 6 in The Carolyn Q. Coleman Conference Room, 301 W. Market St., Greensboro.


   Contact: Jason Tyson
   Phone: (984) 289-9542
   Email: ncsbe.comms@ncsbe.gov