The outcome of the race for a North Carolina House seat from Mecklenburg County remains unclear.
The addition of absentee ballots to Tuesday’s vote count showed Democrat Rachel Hunt with a 64-vote lead over incumbent Republican Bill Brawley in House District 103, which encompasses parts of Matthews and Mint Hill. At the end of election night, Brawley held a 52-vote lead.
Mecklenburg County election officials are working this week to review provisional ballots that could still change the vote totals. Elections Director Michael Dickerson said provisional ballots are cast by people who show up at the polls on election day, but precinct workers can’t find their names in the poll books.
“They may have moved, they might have thought they registered but did not register, they thought they registered at the department of motor vehicles and we didn’t find something,” Dickerson explained. “So, all of [the ballots cast by those people] are the ones that we will now go through.”
Dickerson said the Mecklenburg elections board will determine by Thursday which provisional ballots should be included in last Tuesday’s vote totals. The local board must then submit its election results to the state board of elections by Friday. If the difference between the vote totals for Brawley and Hunt is less than one percent, the losing candidate could ask for a recount.
