(The Center Square) – Less than one-tenth of 1% of ballots in North Carolina’s Election Day Primary were not counted, the state Board of Elections said in a report Tuesday.
Five second primaries for May 14 were confirmed in the report. The March 5 contests were the first for mandated photograph identification to be shown before voting. And it came with voters choosing a lengthy ballot list inclusive of the presidential tickets for Republicans and Democrats; 16 statewide primaries involving the 10-member Council of State; judicial contests; and state lawmakers.
Many areas had more races on the local level, such as county commissioners and school boards.
More than 1.8 million voted, a turnout of better than 24% from the state’s nearly 7.5 million registered voters. The Board of Elections said 1,605 ballots were not counted – 1,128 by absentee, all not in by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day when polls closed; and 477 provisionals, 87% of which voters did not return to the county board with photo ID.
Lawmakers last summer removed the three-day grace period after Election Day for absentee ballots.
Absentee early voting by mail started with ballots mailed out Jan. 19, 46 days before Super Tuesday; the voter registration deadline was Feb. 9; and in-person with same-day registration available started Feb. 15 and ended March 2.
In a statement, state Sen. Warren Daniel, R-Burke, said, “Preliminary results show that 99.9% of voters cast their ballot in accordance with state law, and there’s been no indication voting was more difficult this year than in the past. We will monitor updates as they come along, but the early figures point toward North Carolina’s election integrity laws working as intended – making it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
North Carolina voters approved voter identification at the polls in 2018 through a constitutional amendment on the November ballot. In those midterms, 55.49% of nearly 3.7 million votes were in favor. Twenty-three states require photo ID to vote; 11 others accept forms of identification without a photograph.
Because of litigation, by progressive groups and Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper, the law hasn’t been enacted with staying power.
North Carolina voter registration is open year-round, with deadlines just ahead of elections. With Democratic majorities of 31-19 in the Senate and 68-52 in the House in 2007, lawmakers passed and enacted same-day registration during the early voting period. A year later, Barack Obama joined Jimmy Carter (1976) as the only Democrats to win the state in presidential elections since Lyndon B. Johnson in 1964.
Of note, neither Carter (Ronald Reagan) nor Obama (Mitt Romney) prevailed in the state on reelection bids four years later.
Confirmed for second primaries are Republicans for lieutenant governor, Hal Weatherman and Jim O’Neill; Republicans for auditor, Jack Clark and Dave Boliek; Republicans for the 13thh Congressional District, Kelly Daughtry and Brad Knott; Republicans for South Point Township District on the Gaston County Board of Commissioners, Jim Bailey and Ronnie Worley; and a seat on the Board of Education in Orange County, Jennifer Moore and Bonnie Hauser.
