The staff at the Vance County Board of Elections has had little time to rest following all the activity surrounding Tuesday’s primary elections – there remains plenty to do after those voting machines have been returned to the office.
For one thing, Tuesday’s results are unofficial until a canvass certifies the ballots. Per state regulations, the canvass will take place 10 days after the election – Friday, Mar. 13, according to Vance County Board of Elections Director Haley Rawles.
The Vance County Board of Elections also announced on Wednesday that it would hold a hand-to-eye count as part of the post-election audit process. This count will take place on Thursday, Mar. 5 at 10 a.m. at the board of elections office in the Henry A. Dennis Building, 300 S. Garnett St., Henderson. The meeting is open to the public.
According to a post on social media, “The hand-to-eye count is conducted to verify the accuracy of election results by manually counting a sample of ballots and comparing those results with the voting system totals.”
According to the N.C. State Board of Elections website, the hand count has been a part of every North Carolina election since 2006 and occurs before the certification canvass.
Information on the NCSBE website explained the process this way: “The sample hand-count audit is a test to ensure that voting equipment reads voters’ choices accurately. Bipartisan teams at every county board of elections conduct this audit after every election. The audit compares election results counted by voting equipment with hand counts of ballots from randomly selected voting sites.”