North Carolina’s recount process begins. The winner of the chief justice race is at stake

Boards of elections in 43 counties across North Carolina started recounting the state’s 5.4 million ballots Thursday to decide the state’s next Supreme Court chief justice.

Incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley, a Democrat, asked for a recount to keep her position after trailing behind her opponent and colleague, Republican Justice Paul Newby, by only 406 votes.

If Newby is declared the winner after the recount, he will oversee the N.C. Supreme Court and also the state’s judicial system. He also will join justices-elect Phil Berger Jr. and Tamara Barringer, both Republicans, on the court, creating a 4-3 split with Democrats leading the majority.

The boards were asked to give 48 hours notice before beginning the recount, according to a memo from the state board’s executive director Karen Brinson Bell.

Boards in the remaining 57 counties also will recount their votes over the next several days. Each county has reported a schedule for its recounts to the N.C. Board of Elections. They have until the end of Nov. 25 to finish.

If the boards don’t have high-speed scanners, they should expect to scan 600 to 900 ballots per hour, Bell said.

The run for Supreme Court chief justice is the only statewide race within close enough margins to ask for a recount. In statewide races, there must be 10,000 votes or less between the two opponents.

Beasley, 55, has served on the N.C. Supreme Court since 2012 and was appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper to become chief justice in 2019.

That appointment made her North Carolina’s first African American woman in that position, which led to people from around the world reaching out to her and offering enthusiasm and support, she told The News & Observer.

Newby, 65, is the longest serving N.C. Supreme Court justice currently on the bench. He joined in 2004.

Newby was the only Republican on the bench until the party swept the judicial races this election cycle.

In addition to calling for a recount, Beasley is also filing protests across the state, saying about 2,000 absentee by-mail and provisional ballots have been wrongfully disqualified from the count.

Like Beasley, Newby has also filed protests in various counties making similar allegations.

This story was originally published November 19, 2020 at 6:15 AM with the headline "North Carolina’s recount process begins. The winner of the chief justice race is at stake."