News
Provisional votes could sway race
Hamby and Carter were only 531 votes apart in 5th District
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Published: May 13, 2008
Updated: 05/13/2008 10:42 am
A total of 2,761 provisional ballots yet to be reviewed could significantly affect a tight Democratic congressional primary between Diane Hamby and Roy Carter, according to a Winston-Salem Journal tally done yesterday.
The question is whether voters cast enough of those ballots in the 5th District for Hamby, a Statesville businesswoman, to overtake Carter, a tree farmer and retired teacher who lives in Glendale Springs. The nominee will move on to run against Republican incumbent Rep. Virginia Foxx, who first won the district seat in 2004.
After preliminary results came in last Tuesday, Carter was leading by less than half of a percentage point. He had 39,884 to Hamby's 39,353, a margin of 531 votes.
Yesterday, election officials said they had 2,761 provisional ballots, which are not included in the preliminary results. A Journal analysis found that Hamby would have to get 59.6 percent, or 1,647 votes, to overtake Carter, assuming that all of the provisional ballots are ruled valid.
Elections officials must first determine whether ballots are valid before they can be counted. And ballots in some counties, including Rockingham's 501 ballots, were cast in separate congressional districts.
Regardless, pulling out more than 59 percent of the ballots could be a tall order for Hamby.
Election officials say that the results of the provisional ballots tend to follow the results of the regular ballots, and Hamby and Carter were split about 50/50.
If Hamby does not overtake Carter with provisional ballots, she reiterated yesterday that she probably would request a recount should the new margin separating the candidates fall within less than 1 percent, the margin that allows the losing candidate to request a recount.
"I truly believe we need to count all the votes," Hamby said.
Election officials were scheduled to count the provisional ballots by today, but the outcome in Forsyth County may not be known until later this week.
Rob Coffman, the director of the Forsyth Board of Elections, said yesterday afternoon that 500 of the 1,275 provisional ballots must still be examined, and that the State Board of Elections has given him an extension.
Examining ballots is harder than people might think, he said. For example, election officials sometimes must verify licenses with the N.C. Division of Motor Vehicles.
"It's not like you can do it with the click of a mouse," he said.
"And this isn't something like I can bring in 10 temps."
■ Bertrand M. Gutierrez can be reached at 727-7283 or at bgutierrez@wsjournal.com.
Provisional count
The Democratic primary for the 5th Congressional District is coming down to provisional ballots, with Roy Carter holding a lead of about half a percentage point over Diane Hamby. If Hamby were to win 1,647 of the 2,761 provisional ballots, she could overtake Carter. The winner will face two-term incumbent Rep. Virginia Foxx.
County Provisional ballots
Alexander 48
Alleghany 11
Ashe 32
Davie 21
Forsyth 1,275
Iredell 246
Rockingham 501
Stokes 100
Surry 224
Watauga 118
Wilkes 185
Total 2,761
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