Canvass won’t change local results
The canvass of provisional ballots scheduled for Thursday won’t change any local election outcomes.
Brunswick County elections director Greg Bellamy said the board only has 419 provisional ballots to consider. According to the results tallied on election night, the closest local race was between school board candidates Shirley Babson and Tom Simmons, separated by 780 votes. Babson won, and because there aren’t enough provisional ballots to turn the tide, her victory will hold.
During the canvass, elections officials count provisional ballots that, because of their questionable nature, were not included in the unofficial results reported at the end of election night.
Voters are given provisional ballots if there’s any question about their eligibility or if they potentially came to the wrong polling place to cast their votes.
Additional considerations in the canvass are party affiliations—some people switch just before an election—other times there’s a question of residency—some people move just before an election—and then there can be questions of whether a person has registered at all, said Bellamy.
He said the board carefully considers which of these provisionals to count as true votes, but this time, “They will not change anything at the local level.”