At issue are roughly 1,750 mail-in absentee ballots that were not counted on Election Day and are not slated to be tabulated until this Thursday. This type of ballot typically favors Democratic over Republican candidates, and could easily sway several close races for school board and county commissioner seats.
There are also about 1,900 provisional ballots left to be counted; these are the result of questions about a voter’s eligibility — including whether they had a valid photo ID — and many are likely to be rejected. Provisional ballots also tend to break more evenly between parties, and are less likely to shift the overall outcome — although they still have some effect.
According to local and state officials, all of these ballots will be counted and finalized by the canvass on Friday, November 15.
The issue is that far fewer mail-in absentee ballots were expected to be left outstanding after Election Night. Changes made to election law, including one in 2023 removing a three-day grace period following Election Day, meant that the only uncounted mail-in ballots expected to be left over after Tuesday night were those received on Election Day itself.
According to guidance sent to the media by the North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE), with the request that it be disseminated to the public to help ensure accurate expectations about the timeline of vote counting, ”Ballots that will be counted and reported by the end of election night include … All absentee ballots received by the county boards of elections before the start of Election Day.”
According to correspondence between New Hanover County Elections Director Rae Hunter-Havens and the county, elections staff determined an administrative cutoff of October 31, citing “guidance from the state Board of Elections.” That meant instead of one day’s worth of mail-in ballots, those received between November 1 and 5 were outstanding. Hunter-Havens suggested this was common practice for the local elections board. This year’s tallying, she suggested, would be more time-consuming due to new laws governing when vote reporting can begin on Election Night and the new voter ID law.
NCSBE has denied issuing any such guidance to Hunter-Havens or the local board, and County Manager Chris Coudriet has repeatedly suggested the local board may have violated state law. He's voiced his frustration with getting info in "dribs and drabs" from the elections office, leading to "choppy" communication. The county has asked for a meeting with state officials, currently slated for December 2, according to emails.
According to statewide data, it does appear several other more populous counties had large backlogs of uncounted mail-in ballots, including Durham, Forsyth, New Hanover, and Wake. (Mecklenburg County also had a significant backlog, but reported them at the end of last week). According to state law, and correspondence shared by the county, New Hanover County’s elections board was unable to move up the counting date because the process of noticing an official meeting would have needed to be started earlier.
The confusion around why New Hanover County has so many outstanding absentee ballots was amplified when the elections board increased its original estimate — apparently based on a visual estimate — from around 1,500 to over 1,750. The growing uncertainly felt by some led to public concern and criticism — and a complaint, filed by an attorney on behalf of Commissioner Dane Scalise, who is running for his first full term after being appointed in 2023.
Scalise placed second out of three winning candidates in early voting results, 253 votes ahead of Democratic challenger Stephanie Walker who took the third slot, and 502 votes ahead of fourth place Jonathan Barfield, Jr. a longtime Democratic incumbent. If the outstanding votes broke 2:1 in favor of Democratic candidates, he could conceivably be pushed out of a winning slot.
Writing on Scalise's behalf, attorney Phillip Strach wrote the local elections board and the state's elections director and legal counsel, criticizing apparent violations of state law, including the refusal to allow Scalise’s team to inspect ballots. The letter demands an accounting of the chain of custody for the outstanding ballots and efforts to prevent ballot tampering. (Note: You can find the full letter below.)
While Scalise has not filed a formal legal suit, there are clearly concerns that a lack of clarity — and possible violations of state law — could lead to litigation. (Stratch, it’s worth noting, represented the state and national Republican parties in a lawsuit against NCSBE earlier this year over alleged failures to sufficiently vet voter qualifications).
But if Scalise or another candidate or interested party were to file suit, it would likely be against either the state or local elections board — or both — but not New Hanover County.
As Coudriet wrote to commissioners, “I want to let you know the county attorney's office has suggested to the elections office that it retain outside legal counsel. In prior rulings, courts have determined elections offices to be separate entities from county government.”
While county attorneys can provide some logistical support in meetings — noting, for example, points of order — they represent the county, not the elections board, which is effectively a state agency.
Local elections boards are made up of five members — two Republicans and two Democrats appointed by NCSBE, and a chair appointed by the Governor — who can be removed for cause by the state. The local board hires the elections director.
Despite that separation, the county does provide funding for elections operations, as well as communications support, HR, and other services.
Coudriet wrote that, “I imagine resources will come up” in discussions about the ballot situation. He echoed the frustration of several other candidates — including sitting incumbents — who have said the county has fully supported the local elections board.
“I think it's important to share the county appropriated $1.77 million to elections for the current year,” Coudriet wrote. “The county constructed a purpose driven facility for elections, which served as an early vote site [...] Any resource request made during the elections season, that I as manager was aware, was met.”
Coudriet noted that while updates from the local elections office had been sparse, there was a meeting slate for 5:30 p.m. on Tuesday night, relocated to a larger room at the Northeast Library in anticipation of larger-than-normal crowds.
The elections board is also slated to meet Thursday at 2 p.m. when it plans to count nearly all remaining ballots, including all absentee ballots (a few provisional ballots may be considered and accepted or rejected the following day).
The county canvass is slated for Friday at 11 a.m., when vote totals will be finalized.
Below: Scalise's full complaint.
