By Matt Irvin, Staff Writer
Sunday, November 19, 2006 — Democratic challenger Larry Kissell says he owes it to the people of District 8 to seek a formal recount of ballots cast in the race to unseat U.S. Rep. Robin Hayes, R-Concord, Nov. 7.
“With the exception of Mecklenburg County, the same county which I won with 68 percent, the provisional ballots have been counted and I trail Robin Hayes by less than 400 votes. That is less than 1⁄2 of a percentage point,” Kissell said Friday afternoon.
“As such, I will be submitting a letter of request for a machine recount in every county in the 8th congressional district with the North Carolina Board of Elections.”
Kissell picked up votes in many of the district’s 10 counties Thursday and Friday but not enough to unseat Hayes and he wants the ballots inspected further.
“Because we've witnessed numerous ballots that have been ‘checked’ or ‘X’d’ instead of bubbled-in, I still contend that a hand-eye recount may be required to settle this election once and for all. I personally owe it to voters of the 8th district to work day and night until we are satisfied that every voter's intent has been correctly counted.”
In a tense, standing-room-only atmosphere at the Stanly County Board of Elections office, Democrats and Republican officials and their lawyers gathered to learn the outcome of provisional ballots cast in the county.
Out of the 99 provisional ballots cast in the county 68 were deemed to be eligible for counting.
Each ballot was researched thoroughly to see if the voter was authentic.
“We wanted to count votes that should be counted,” said board of elections member Earl “Bud” Singletary.
Board Chair Janet Pickler said the board was following the law on provisional ballots.
Pickler and Singletary said Stanly County Director of Elections Kim Wilson did a fine job of researching which provisional ballots should be counted.
The board reviewed each ballot for qualifications and acted on the recommendations of Wilson whether they should be allowed or disallowed.
Review of ballots took more than two hours.
B.A. Smith, a former county chair of the Republican party registered a protest regarding the counting of certain provisional ballots.
His objections were that some of the people who voted by provisional ballot were not on the state Web site of registered voters and there was incomplete information on the ballot or their ballots were not signed.
Most approved ballots were unreported moves within the county or votes in incorrect precincts.
Ballots not approved were voters registered in different counties, people who registered after the deadline or those not registered at all.
“This was the first time I was ever involved with a certification,” said Stanly County Democratic Party Chair June Mabry said. “I was pleased to see the professionalism displayed by Kim Wilson.
“I appreciate the thoroughness of Kim and staff checking the validity of ballots. It would have been nice if any protest had been registered after the process had been completed instead of before.”
Mabry said voting is a fundamental issue.
“I’m glad the board does every thing to see every vote counts,” Mabry said.
The elections board certified the vote around 4 p.m. Friday.
The board will meet Monday at 10 a.m. for any mandatory recounts the board may have, the board unanimously approved the motion.
