The State Board of Elections has received a request for a hand recount in a random sample of precincts in the statewide election for NC Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 6.
The partial hand-to-eye recount was requested by Republican Jefferson G. Griffin, who trails Democratic candidate Allison Riggs after the initial machine recount in that contest.
The sample recount is used to determine whether a full hand-to-eye recount of all ballots cast statewide is required. If the results of the hand-to-eye recount among the randomly selected voting sites differ from the machine recount, such that extrapolating the amount of the change to the entire state (based on the proportion of ballots recounted to the total votes cast for that office) would result in reversing the results, the State Board will order a statewide hand-to-eye recount of all ballots in that contest.
The State Board will conduct a random drawing at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 3, to determine the sampling of Election Day precincts or early voting sites that will be recounted by hand in the 100 counties.
Members of the public can observe the random selection in person at the State Board of Elections Office, Third Floor, Dobbs Building, 430 N. Salisbury St., Raleigh, NC 27603.
The event can also be observed remotely as follows:
- Online: Webex (Password: NCSBE)
- By phone: (415) 655-0003, enter access code 2436 940 0925#, password 62723#)
The county boards of elections will conduct their sample hand recounts of this contest in the coming days. The State Board will issue a press release Tuesday with additional details about the sample hand-to-eye recount.