Damon Circosta of a good night\u2019s sleep, the chair of the North Carolina Board of Elections can finally rest easy. The state\u2019s election went smoothly, with \u201cremarkably few\u201d difficulties \u2014 \u201dand that\u2019s saying something,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cEvery election has a number of these Election Day challenges that you have to work through,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is notable that in the midst of a pandemic, where we had to make considerable adaptations, how few hiccups there were in the process.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\nFrom the six polling places of 2,660 statewide that opened late,<\/span> to the thousands of mail-in ballots that voters requested but never returned (as of Wednesday morning, around 92,300 absentee ballots remain outstanding), the election wasn\u2019t without its share of problems. Yet county and state officials say they have tackled those challenges with ease, extending vote times at the precincts that saw delays and allowing mail-in ballots postmarked by Election Day to be counted if they arrive by 5 p.m. Thursday.<\/span><\/p>\nPhil Lehman, chair of the Durham Board of Elections, says the board \u201cdidn\u2019t have any real glitches\u201d on Election Day. The county prepared for possible instances of voter intimidation by putting unarmed security guards at every precinct, but he says no harassment occurred.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIn fact, one of the complaints we got was from an observer who complained about someone in uniform in a patrol car, which was part of the security service. I thought, man, if this is what passes for voter intimidation in Durham, we\u2019re doing very well,\u201d he laughed.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nBoth Lehman and Gerry Cohen, a member of the Wake County Board of Elections, agreed that mail-in voting provided the greatest challenge, largely due to changing requirements for witness information.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cIt really didn\u2019t get worked out until two weeks until the election, so we had to hold onto a number of ballots until then,\u201d Cohen said. Still, because North Carolina law enabled counties to process absentee ballots weeks before they were counted on Nov. 3, the state reported 97% of its votes on election night.<\/span><\/p>\nCounties are now in the midst of the canvass, the final tally of votes that ends on Friday. During the canvass period, county election boards will meet to count any remaining absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day and review provisional ballots for voter eligibility.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\nDurham has 1,277 provisional ballots yet to be reviewed, and 2,800 absentee ballots remain outstanding. The county is unlikely to receive all 2,800, however, because some voters who requested absentee ballots may have voted on Election Day or chosen not to vote at all. The county board of elections will meet Thursday and Friday to certify the remaining ballots.<\/span><\/p>\nAfter the state board reviews county results for final certification on Nov. 24, there could be a recount in the race for chief justice of the state Supreme Court. A 10,000-vote margin is required for the losing candidate to request a recount; as of Wednesday morning, Republican Paul Newby\u2019s lead over Democrat Cheri Beasley had shrunk to just under 1,000 votes.<\/span><\/p>\nWhile Cohen anticipates the recount, he doubts North Carolina will see any further legal challenges.<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cThe margins are large in the national races, and there\u2019s no evidence of any kind of fraud,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nUntil the counties send their results to the state board of elections, Circosta is standing back to \u201csupervise and support.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n\u201cMy job right now, after having built this funnel for democracy, is to let the funnel do its work over the next week,\u201d he said.<\/span><\/p>\nAbove, a voter fills out her ballot at the polling place at the Ruritan Club in Bahama. Photo by Henry Haggart | The 9th Street Journal<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Despite the predictions of chaos and bureaucratic breakdowns on Election Day, which occasionally robbed Damon Circosta of a good night\u2019s sleep, the chair of the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":4607,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[78,135,136],"class_list":["post-4605","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-damon-circosta","tag-election-2020","tag-elections","entry"],"yoast_head":"\n
Analysis: Contrary to predictions of gloom and doom, election went smoothly - 9th Street Journal<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n