Recount Requested in Tight North Carolina Senate Race
In a pivotal moment for North Carolina politics, Senate leader Phil Berger has called for a recount in the Republican primary for Senate District 26, where he currently trails Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. The outcome could significantly impact the balance of power in the North Carolina General Assembly, where Berger has been a leading figure since 2011.
“Today, Sen. Berger contacted the N.C. State Board of Elections and formally requested a machine recount of the votes in SD-26. We will have no further statement today regarding the potential for requesting a hand recount,” Jonathan Felts, a Berger spokesman, stated on Tuesday.
In his recount request, Berger noted the presence of 1 overvote and 134 undervotes in Rockingham County, alongside 2 overvotes and 83 undervotes in Guilford County. “These overvotes and undervotes could very likely determine the outcome of the race,” he wrote.
For the recount, Berger suggested that ballots identified by machines as having either too many or too few selections be reviewed by a bipartisan team of Board of Elections members. This process aims to ensure accuracy without necessitating a full hand recount of all ballots. “By counting the overvotes and undervotes by hand during the first machine recount process, the candidates and the public can have confidence in the accuracy of the vote count in this very close race,” Berger emphasized.
Recount Timeline
The recount in Guilford County is set to start at 1 p.m. on Tuesday, followed by Rockingham County at 10 a.m. on Thursday. Initially, bipartisan two-member teams will run all ballots through a tabulator. Ballots flagged by the tabulator will then be reviewed by four-person bipartisan teams.
Should the trailing candidate wish to pursue further review, they have 24 hours post-machine recount to request a hand recount of a 3% sample of precincts or early voting sites, which would commence within two business days of the request. Significant discrepancies in this partial recount could necessitate a full hand recount of all ballots.
Additionally, the Berger campaign retains the option to file an election protest by 5 p.m. Tuesday, potentially focusing on issues in Guilford County. The campaign alleges that some voters in Senate District 26 did not receive the correct ballots, a claim the Page campaign disputes.
Patrick Sebastian, a post-election advisor for the Page campaign, responded to these developments by stating, “Voters should never feel pressured by a defeated candidate to say something that isn’t true,” in response to allegations that the Berger campaign is urging voters to submit potentially false affidavits.
