The North Carolina Board of Elections on Monday said more than 15,000 mail ballots from last week’s election haven’t been counted. Those ballots could make the race for one of seven seats on the state's Supreme Court even closer.
In the Supreme Court race, Republican Jefferson Griffin led Democratic incumbent Allison Riggs by a little more than 10,000 votes on election night.
As some counties have counted mail ballots that arrived on Election Day or the day before, Griffin’s lead has shrunk to about 7,641 votes out of nearly 5.5 million cast.
The elections board said Monday there are still 15,176 mail ballots left to count, including more than 3,700 from Wake County. Of the state’s 100 counties, 87 still have mail ballots left to count.
Mecklenburg County counted its final group of mail ballots Thursday.
Riggs won nearly 64% of mail ballots counted so far, suggesting she could reduce Griffin’s lead even further. But it might be difficult for her to overcome his lead based on mail ballots.
County elections boards also have to review 60,000 provisional ballots by Friday. Those are cast when people have problems when they attempt to vote, such as going to the wrong polling place or not having a photo ID.
Mecklenburg County Elections Director Michael Dickerson said last week that in a typical election, about 40% of provisional ballots end up counting. He said they often split 50-50 between Democrats and Republicans.
The deadline for counting provisional and mail ballots is Friday.
Riggs hasn’t conceded. But on social media late last week she wrote that while her path to victory is “narrow,” she wants to make sure every eligible vote is counted.
Should Griffin hold on, the GOP would control six of seven seats on the state’s highest court.
