The North Carolina governor’s race is still unresolved, three weeks after Election Day.
Roy Cooper, the Democrat who challenged Republican incumbent Pat McCrory, has already declared victory, but McCrory refuses to concede.
By Wednesday afternoon, Cooper had a lead of more than 10,250 votes, surpassing the threshold that would block McCrory’s request for a statewide recount. While Cooper’s campaign cited that margin and once again called for McCrory to concede, McCrory said Wednesday that he is letting the elections process play itself out.
The New York Times reports that foes of McCrory parked a U-Haul truck in front of the governor’s mansion and waved moving boxes with the face of Ray Charles on them while singing, “Hit The Road, Pat,” and Monday evening, hundreds gathered at the state Capitol shouting, “No stealing our election!”
Nine of North Carolina’s 100 counties still had not completed certifying their vote totals as of Tuesday night, and on Wednesday afternoon, the state’s elections board ordered Durham County to recount tens of thousands of ballots that were cast during early voting.
GOP state board member James Baker told WWAY TV3 that he didn’t know if a recount would change the vote totals in Durham, but that having one would help allay the public’s perception of problems with Durham voting.
The Times reports that a lawsuit filed by Francis X. De Luca, president of Raleigh-based conservative think tank the Civitas Institute, could lead to further delays in a resolution of the governor’s race.
The suit concerns a North Carolina provision that allows residents to register and vote on the same day during an early-voting period. De Luca argues that since those registrations cannot be verified until after the state board certifies election results, the court should order the state board not to include those votes in the final tally until the registrations are verified.
Read more at the New York Times and WWAY TV3.