Newby leads NC Supreme Court race after statewide recount, Beasley calls for second recount
Justice Paul Newby led North Carolina’s Supreme Court chief justice race after a statewide recount finished late Wednesday night, but the election isn’t over.
Incumbent Chief Justice Cheri Beasley’s campaign staff said in a news release they are demanding a hand-to-eye recount, which differs from the recent recount tabulated by voting machines. The request came around 11 p.m. Wednesday and was confirmed by the NC State Board of Elections.
Following the first recount, Newby, a Republican, is ahead of Beasley, a Democrat, by 401 votes out of the nearly 5.4 million ballots cast. The recount dropped Newby’s lead by only five votes.
“Following the initial recount, the general election between Chief Justice Beasley and Justice Newby continues to be the closest of any statewide race in North Carolina history,” said Bruce Thompson, counsel to Beasley’s campaign. “In order to ensure a complete and thorough ballot count, we have requested that the State Board of Elections proceed with a 3% hand-eye recount in a sampling of precincts statewide. We are grateful for the diligent work being carried out across the state by our Board of Elections officials and volunteers to ensure that every North Carolina voter is heard.”
State law allows Beasley to ask for a hand-to-eye recount in 3% of the precincts in each county chosen at random.
Early voting sites are counted as a precinct.
If the hand-to-eye count changes the results of a precinct enough, the state board can call for a complete recount in that county.
Beasley had requested the initial statewide recount on Nov. 17. Newby led Beasley by 406 votes after the county canvasses, the process of determining that votes were counted correctly.
Newby initially led the race on election night but that lead continued to flip back and forth between the two candidates as mail-in and provisional ballots continued to be tabulated. Provisional ballots allow people with voter eligibility concerns to cast a ballot while election officials determine the legality of the vote.
The N.C. Board of Elections planned for the recount to end on Nov. 25, but by midday last Wednesday, it was clear that three of the state’s largest counties, Mecklenburg, Forsyth and Guilford, wouldn’t finish in time.
On Monday morning when the recount resumed, Newby led the race by 409 votes. That margin remained Tuesday morning when voting resumed.
A results map showed that Gates, Johnston and Halifax counties also needed to finish recounting ballots. Gates and Johnston finished Monday and Halifax wrapped up Wednesday.
State board spokesman Pat Gannon said Johnston County’s delay was due to the ink quality on the ballot and the high-speed scanner’s ability to read the votes. Switching to a slower scanner corrected the situation, he added. He did not comment on the other two delays.
Forsyth ended up on Wednesday night being the lone holdout for ending the recount concluding around 9 p.m.
Both candidates have protest hearings scheduled for Dec. 18. A protest hearing is a formal complaint alleging irregularities or misconduct in how votes were counted, according to the state board of elections.
This story was originally published December 2, 2020 at 10:18 PM with the headline "Newby leads NC Supreme Court race after statewide recount, Beasley calls for second recount."