Governor’s race remains up in the air as McCrory prepares challenge

With tens of thousands of provisional and absentee ballots yet to be counted, the N.C. gubernatorial election is still undecided.

Democratic candidate and Attorney General Roy Cooper holds an edge of fewer than 5,000 votes over incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory. However, more than 50,000 provisional ballots are to be counted before the Friday deadline.

Registered voters can cast provisional ballots in North Carolina if registration or identification difficulties prevent them from voting on or before election day.

Cooper said in a statement he is confident the election outcome will not change.

“This has been an extremely hard fought race, but the people of North Carolina have spoken and they have chosen a change in leadership,” he said.

Chris LaCivita, a campaign strategist for McCrory, said in a statement declaring the outcome before all ballots were counted was irresponsible.

McCrory said in his election night speech his campaign would make sure the election results were fair.

“We’re going to make sure every vote counts in North Carolina,” he said.

The N.C. State Board of Elections will accept absentee ballots until 5 p.m. on Monday, and each precinct will have until Friday morning to verify and count all provisional ballots, according to a press release from State Board of Elections spokesperson Patrick Gannon.

If the margin of victory remains under 10,000 votes, either candidate can call for a recount. Election results are not considered official until Nov. 29.

The state’s Attorney General race is also in gridlock. Republican candidate Buck Newton has yet to concede to Democratic candidate Josh Stein, who currently leads by 20,000 votes.

McCrory has also called into question 90,000 ballots cast in Durham County that were not counted until very late on election night.

Durham County, which typically votes Democratic, experienced problems with its voting machines on election day, leading to extended voting hours at several precincts.

Jason Torchinsky, chief legal counsel for the Pat McCrory Committee Legal Defense Fund, said in a statement that Durham County has a history of mishandling elections.

“What transpired in Durham County is extremely troubling and no citizen can have confidence in the results at this point in time,” he said.

Cooper campaign press secretary Jamal Little said in a statement McCrory is trying to undermine the election’s outcome.

“Any claims of ‘malfeasance’ are nothing more than a desperate attempt by the McCrory campaign to overturn results of an election they have lost,” he said.

state@dailytarheel.com