Tuesday was an eventful day in the race for the Executive Mansion in the Tar Heel state, even though it marked two weeks since Election Day.
Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper has declared victory in the gubernatorial race twice and is up by several thousand votes, but incumbent Republican Governor Pat McCrory has yet to concede and has challenged voting results in more than half of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
While Cooper holds a lead, the margin has remained within 10,000 votes, which allows for McCrory to ask for a recount.
The state Board of Elections met on Tuesday to give guidance to counties across the state handling the flood of election challenges coming from the McCrory campaign.
The board ultimately unanimously passed motions telling county boards to move forward with the canvassing process to certify the voting results, adding that if the amount of questioned votes is enough to sway the election, the state board would then evaluate those.
Meanwhile, McCrory’s campaign has formally asked for a recount once the statewide canvassing process is finished. A report from the Associated Press in 2012 estimated a statewide recount would cost the state $1.5 million.
A lawsuit was also filed late Monday evening by the conservative Civitas Institute asking that all votes cast by those using same-day registration be withheld from the vote count “pending further investigation” to verify their validity. The lawsuit was filed in federal court, while a federal court ruling from this summer reinstated same-day registration in North Carolina.
The lawsuit impacts approximately 90,000 votes.
Cooper is moving forward as if he will be the next Governor of North Carolina, announcing that he is assembling his transition team.
But the state board cannot move forward certifying the election results until the final county does so, meaning it will likely be early December before any semblance of a decision is made regarding November’s election.
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