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The initial recount may be over, but the bitterly contested primary showdown between Republican state Senate leader Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page appears unlikely to end anytime soon.
Machine recounts in Guilford and Rockingham counties this week confirmed Page’s 23-vote lead, but more recounts could follow. The Guilford County Board of Elections also voted Thursday to consider an election protest Berger filed, with a hearing scheduled for April 6. That means the State Board of Elections won’t certify the election results in late March as planned.
Jason Tyson, a spokesman for the State Board of Elections, told The Assembly that the state must wait for the counties to resolve all protests before it can certify the results, even if the protests wouldn’t change the outcome of the race.
“We won’t certify until the county process plays out,” Tyson said.
If Berger loses his state Senate seat, it will be a huge blow for him and the Republican apparatus in North Carolina. He can request a partial hand recount by Friday afternoon. If he does, the counties could then proceed early next week with scrutinizing a randomized sample of about 3% of primary day precincts, early voting sites, or both. If Berger picked up enough votes in that sample, it would trigger a full hand count of the more than 26,000 votes cast in the race.
Berger’s Guilford County protest is a separate process involving eight voters who claim to have received a ballot that was missing the District 26 Senate race. Berger also has filed three protests in Rockingham County over five ballots.
While the 13 protested votes wouldn’t change the outcome of the contest, Berger has also raised questions about 220 other ballots where someone apparently either didn’t vote in this race or voted for both candidates. The NCSBE denied Berger’s unusual request for an early hand recount on Wednesday, noting counties had to first complete their initial machine recounts.