Recount called for Supreme Court race
By approving 112 of the 211 provisional ballots and 45 absentee ballots during canvass on Friday, Nov. 15, the Macon County Board of Elections signed off on the 2024 election.
Macon County Elections Director Melanie Thibault said there are usually around 30-40 ballots disapproved for various reasons. This time, there were 99 disapprovals.
The five-member board spent more than two hours during canvass double-checking the provisional ballots, unanimously approving Thibault’s recommendations.
Of the 112 approved provisional ballots, there were cases of unreported moves, people removed from voting rolls after not voting in the two previous federal elections, voting out of precinct on Election Day, mistaken removals and felons who have had their voting status restored. The disapprovals were usually cases of voting in the wrong county.
The 45 absentee ballots included many cases of not submitting Voter ID information but were cured in time, plus military and overseas ballots that came in on time.
The board went over each ballot, with a Democrat and Republican on the board transcribing overseas ballots. After approvals, the board fed each ballot into the machine and then confirmed the ticker-tape totals.
After all the ballots were counted and uploaded to the state, John VanHook pointed out that this election showed how Republicans and Democrats work together to ensure that every vote that should count does. Vice Chair Gary Dills complimented the hard work of the poll workers and volunteers, making sure everything ran smoothly.
In total, 22,062, or 75.19% of registered Macon County voters, officially cast a counting ballot in the 2024 Election. The total is the highest voter turnout in Macon County history, higher than the 20,827 in 2020, but is a smaller turnout percentage than 2020’s 76.68%.
Recount for court justice race
One statewide race will have a recount: the N.C. Supreme Court Associate Justice – Seat 06 race between Republican Jefferson G. Griffin and Democrat Allison Riggs. With all precincts reporting, Riggs leads by only 623 votes; there were more than 5.5 million votes cast in that race. The difference is less than the 0.5% or 10,000 vote difference (whichever is less) required by general statute for a recount. On Tuesday, Griffin requested a recount in all 100 counties.
“We will begin our recount on Wednesday, Nov. 20, at 9 a.m. through 6 p.m. If we do not get completed on Wednesday we will begin again on Thursday, Nov. 21, at 9 a.m. until finished,” Thibault said.