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-Press Release, NC State Board of Elections

About 10 county boards of elections in North Carolina are meeting early this week to finalize their 2020 election results, with a few counties correcting discrepancies in election results discovered during the post-election canvass process.

Results reported on election night are always unofficial. Canvass is the official process of determining the votes have been counted and tabulated correctly, resulting in the authentication of the official results.

Most county boards of elections certified their results late last week. However, a few are still working with State Board staff to ensure all votes are counted properly before they complete their canvass. Counties may delay canvass for a “reasonable time” if all aspects of the canvass process were not completed on Friday.

As counties continue their canvass processes, unofficial results will be updated accordingly on the State Board’s Election Results Dashboard.

“The canvass process exists to ensure votes are counted accurately,” said Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. “This is the process working as it is supposed to work. This election will not be certified until we are certain the results are accurate.”

Please see below for information about counties that will meet early this week to complete their canvasses.

Recounts

After all counties have completed their canvasses, any mandatory recounts would be conducted by county boards of elections. For statewide contests, the vote difference must be 10,000 votes or fewer for a candidate who is the runner-up to demand a recount. For non-statewide contests, the difference between the candidates must be 1 percent or less of the total votes cast in the contest.

Requests for recounts in most single-county contests are due by 5 p.m. Monday. Such requests in statewide and multicounty contests are due by noon Tuesday.

If a recount is demanded, the State Board of Elections office would issue a schedule, and the counties would conduct recounts individually during open meetings.

Counties would re-run every ballot through a tabulator and the results of the recount would be compared to the results of the original count.

State Board Audits

Prior to state canvass scheduled for November 24, the State Board conducts various audits of election results, including the “Voter History Audit.” Here’s how that audit is conducted:

When a voter checks in to vote at an early voting site or an Election Day polling place, or submits an absentee by-mail ballot, the voter receives a voter history record for that election.

When ballots are run through tabulators, tabulation software provides election return data that identifies the number of ballots cast in that election.

The “Voter History Audit” compares the “voter history” number with the number of physical ballots cast in that election. These two numbers should generally match, but may be slightly off for valid reasons, such as if a voter checks in at a polling place and then decides not to vote.

This audit is designed to identify certain problems or fraud, such as ballot stuffing, erroneous manual entries, user error, or certain ballot coding issues.

The State Board conducts additional audits summarized here: https://www.ncsbe.gov/about-elections/election-security/post-election-p…

The State Board will not certify results unless evidence from the audits show the results are accurate.

State Canvass

The State Board of Elections will certify statewide results for all federal, statewide, multi-district and judicial contests at a public meeting held at 11 a.m. Tuesday, Nov. 24. Results in each contest are not considered official until certified by the State Board. After state canvass, the board of elections with jurisdiction over each contest will issue a certificate of election to the prevailing candidate.

Electoral College

The Electoral College meets at noon on December 14. Electors’ names will be announced when the Secretary of State receives certified election results from the State Board and notifies the governor of the electors’ names. For more about the Electoral College, go here: https://www.sosnc.gov/divisions/electoral_college.