Posted on 11/16/2004 3:29:53 PM PST by TaxRelief
Despite all 100 counties reporting unofficial results in North Carolina's Nov. 2 election, the outcome of two statewide races won't be known for at least 10 days.
Protests and requests for recounts have been filed by candidates for agriculture commissioner and superintendent of public instruction, forcing election workers to again labor over the 3 million-plus ballots cast more than a week ago. They have until Wednesday to complete the task.
Recounts are allowed when the margin in a statewide race is no more than 0.5 percent of the total votes cast, or 10,000 votes, whichever is less.
State election officials must then decide whether to call a new statewide election in either or both races.
Democratic agriculture commissioner Britt Cobb is protesting the election in Carteret County, where a machine failed to register 4,438 early ballots and lost them for good. In unofficial results Friday, Cobb's Republican challenger, Steve Troxler, led by just 2,656 votes.
Cobb believes the lost votes in Carteret could have changed the outcome. State records show there are about 1,800 more registered Republicans than Democrats in the coastal county.
"The lost votes from Carteret County have resulted in doubt being cast upon the apparent results of the protested election," Cobb stated in his filing.
If election officials decide to hold a new election, state law requires that it be in the same jurisdiction the original election occurred, which would be statewide.
Meantime, Bill Fletcher, a Republican candidate for superintendent of public instruction, has filed a protest in nearly a third of the state's 100 counties, alleging about 7,000 provisional ballots were counted illegally. He said voters should not have been allowed to cast provisionals at sites outside their home precincts.
Fletcher contends those ballots and the ones lost in Carteret are "sufficient to either change the result of the election or serve as the basis for ordering a new election."
On Friday, he trailed Democrat June Atkinson by 9,254 votes.
Gary Bartlett, executive director of the State Board of Elections, said the counties will review Fletcher's claims and then forward the case to state officials, who would decide whether to call an unprecedented revote statewide.
Bartlett said voters are allowed to cast provisional ballots outside their home precinct.
The leaders in the two protested races said Friday they are confident of holding their advantages.
"Now, with the lead that I have, I don't believe that the lost votes in Carteret will be a factor," Atkinson said.
Troxler said he's passing the time working on his farm and keeping supporters updated.
"I'd compare it to a NASCAR race where they say run 500 laps then you get to the finish and they say why not run 50 more," Troxler said.
Voting watchdogs weren't as relaxed over the series of mishaps that have marked this year's election in North Carolina.
For instance: Gaston County officials said around 12,000 votes -- including early and absentee ballots -- were overlooked, then counted several days later. Voting machines in Guilford, Yadkin and Craven counties hit temporary snags that threw off initial results.
"North Carolina has the worst election problem in the country right now," said David Dill, a computer science professor at Stanford University and founder of the watchdog group Verified Voting.
"(Carteret County) is the only case where votes are permanently lost. I think a few heads ought to roll about this Carteret County thing."
Except for that mistake, Bartlett called the problems "easily remedied and lessons learned."
"The big issue is what's going to happen regarding Carteret County. That's the single biggest issue this election," he said.
"[Carteret County] is the only case where votes are permanently lost. I think a few heads ought to roll about this Carteret County thing."
guess which political party controls all of the BoE's in NC?
That's my state!
Be nice, if they would decide to let the Rep's take Agriculture and let the Dem's take Public Instruction, since both of their candidates are showing as the winner. Drop this before it gets ugly, you can't get those votes in Carteret County back.
How do you "lose votes" on an electronic voting machine?
I agree, it's silly, why throw out millions of votes and have a revote when you only lost a few that wouldn't make a difference?
I imagine they would only have a revote if the lost votes could have made a difference.
It can't be the worst...Ohio is recounting the whole state.
We might be 2nd. Whoo-hoo!
Its all a farce, driven by sore losers, especially Ohio's.
BTW, you can "lose votes" the same way your computer can "lose" a document, imho. Usually its operator error. Still, you would think if the fbi can recover documents from a computer thats been deleted and "swept" with something like Clean Sweep, a voting machine ought to be equally accessible. Anyone know if this is true?
Fletcher wants consistent provisonal ballot policy imposed, and he has a better case.D's control all 100 BOE's, and Cobb's worry about Carteret is bogus. Those are big R votes, and he only wants a statewide do-over.
BS, cry havoc!
Ya but if the margin's 5,000 and there were 5,001 lost votes, they "could have made a difference" theoretically, but realistically not.
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