The Forsyth County Board of Elections just voted to approve 1,404 absentee ballots. A motion by Republican member Stuart Russel to exclude 42 ballots that came in after 11/6 and 6 ballots w/ deficiencies that were "cured" failed on a party line. #Election2020 
The 1,404 absentee ballots approved by the Forsyth BOE includes 1,322 from civilians, 31 from military and 51 from overseas. 115 ballots were disapproved. #Election2020 #ncpol
These numbers seem like they could tip the NC Supreme Court chief justice race, where Republican Paul Newby currently leads Democrat Cheri Beasley by 799 votes. For context, Forsyth County is the fifth most populous county in North Carolina. #Election2020 #ncpol
Forsyth County Elections Director Tim Tsujii said there are no local races that are close enough to where the result is likely to be flipped by the remaining absentee ballots. #Election2020
Examples of ballots approved today include one in which a spouse delivered it, one missing a postmark but with some kind of mark indicating it passed through the USPS by Nov. 3, and one in which an overseas voter wrote in Donald Trump for president. #ForsythElections
During a dinner break, board member Stuart Russel says he wouldn't be surprised if the chief justice race winds up in a recount. #Election2020 #ForsythNC #ncpol
Forsyth County (NC) just added 751 votes for Biden and 589 votes for Trump, resulting in a net gain of 162 for Biden. Biden's cumulative share for Forsyth County is 56.1%, compared to 42.3% for Trump. #Election2020
Forsyth County Elections Director reporting provisional ballots. Staff recommends 547 be approved, 250 be partially approved and 678 be disapproved. This could get interesting. #Election2020
Tsujii: 21 provisional ballots cast on Election Day were inadvertently scanned and counted at the polling place. They shouldn't have been counted until the board reviewed them, but they can't be retrieved. #Election2020
Tsujii: 15 voters filled out provisional ballots after casting conventional ballots at polling places on Election Day. He thinks it's because voters accidentally cast blank ballots in the tabulator & wanted a do-over. Consensus seems to be that the provisionals can't be counted.
Another 8 voters filled out provisional ballots after casting conventional ballots during early voting. In contrast, those original ballots that are presumably blank can be retrieved. Russel argues it's not fair to accommodate early voters, but not Election Day voters.
The three Democratic members seem more open to counting the provisional ballots of the 8 early voters and spoiling the blank ballots that they cast inadvertently. Democratic board member Robert Durrah Jr.: "Anyone who intends to vote doesn't cast a blank ballot." #ForsythElection
The Democratic-dominated board votes 3-2 along party lines to accept all 23 provisional votes, both the 15 cast on Election Day and 8 cast in early voting. Durrah asks Russel if Russel could sue if he doesn't think the decision is correct. Not sure where that was going. #Forsyth
Now the board is looking at 3 cases where voters appeared to vote twice, 1st in early voting & again on Election Day. In at least 1 case, the Election Day voter says it was his son who previously voted. Tsujii: "The staff could not determine any distinction btw the signatures."
Really getting into the weeds here. I can't imagine this tipping any contests.
Going back to the new absentee ballots added by Forsyth Co. at 6 p.m., there are 674 new votes for Cal Cunningham & 568 new votes for Thom Tillis in the US Senate race. Net gain of 106 for Cal. FWIW he's already conceded to Tillis. #Election2020
As absentee ballots come in across North Carolina, Democrat Cheri Beasley has taken a 412-vote lead over Republican Paul Newby in the NC Supreme Court chief justice race. H/T @MichaelKGarrett #Election2020 #ncpol
When I checked the NC Board of Elections website earlier today, at 3:17 p.m., Newby was leading Beasley by 725 votes, or 0.02 points. Not a surprising reversal, but still big! #Election2020 #ncpol
Cheri Beasley is now leading by 855 votes in the NC Supreme Court chief justice race.
Beasley/Newby vote splits from large urban counties today:
1) Wake: 1,068/727 (net 341 for Beasley)
2) Durham: 1,862/741 (net 1,121 for Beasley)
3) Forsyth: 735/565 (net 70 for Beasley)
Beasley/Newby vote splits from large urban counties today:
1) Wake: 1,068/727 (net 341 for Beasley)
2) Durham: 1,862/741 (net 1,121 for Beasley)
3) Forsyth: 735/565 (net 70 for Beasley)
Beasley's lead should continue to widen: Results from Mecklenburg (largest in state) were uploaded at 7:17 pm, but have yet to be submitted. Guilford (3rd) hasn't uploaded new results since election night. Both are counties where Beasley holds a 20-point advantage over Newby.
Correction: The vote split in Forsyth gives Beasley a net gain of 170 votes, not 70
The Forsyth County BOE voted 4-1 to rescind a previous decision to count 15 provisional ballots cast in circumstances where voters said they had accidentally submitted blanks ballots. Staff found that 1 of the ballots was, in fact, not blank.
Forsyth County BOE is adjourned. They'll reconvene tomorrow at 11 am for canvas.
Director Tim Tsujii reports: Forsyth County uploaded 548 provisional ballots, along with 250 partially approved ballots, to the State Board of Elections. He says the state site only posts btw 7 am and 10 pm, so they'll show up tomorrow morning. #Election2020
Senior Editor @jordangreentcb will be joining the video conference for the Forsyth County BOE canvas at 11 am, and will continue to monitor the NC BOE site for new results. Will update with any significant developments #Election2020 #ncpol
Checking in on the NC Supreme Court chief justice race. Beasley's lead over Newby currently stands at 1,052 votes. New ballots added from Mecklenburg this morning add 593 for Beasley and 263 for Newby = net gain of 330 for Beasley. #Election2020 #ncpol
Forsyth BOE just voted to accept the random audit of two precincts, which is statutorily required. Forsyth audited the Reynolds HS polling place on Election Day and the Winston Lake early voting site. Staff reports that both hand-eye counts show the tabulation was accurate.
A note on my tweet last night about pending results from Mecklenburg. The elections director there tells me those results were actually write-in votes for Jade Simmons for president. I'm looking at a SBOE report that indicates Meck approved 2,825 ballots on Nov. 6.
From @FCVOTES on the reconciliation btw ballots cast and signed authorization-to-vote forms: "On election day, there were 30,254 ballots cast. We were able to confirm that there were 30,244 Authorization to Vote forms which were filled out and returned to the Board of Elections.
The margin of pollworker error is 0.04%. Staff and board members, including Republican Stuart Russell, indicate they're satisfied.
Election 🚨 The NC Supreme Court chief justice race has flipped again, with Republican Paul Newby taking a 223-vote lead over Democrat Cheri Beasley. Not suggesting anything nefarious, but I'm not sure which counties just reported new ballots. #Election2020 #ncpol
The new ballots reported also widened Trump's lead over Biden in NC by 1,813 votes, so I'm hazarding a guess that these are coming in from rural counties. (Trump's lead had previously narrowed from 76,479 votes on election night to 71,533 votes earlier this morning.)
In other election news, Democrat @bessefornc just conceded the House District 74 race to Republican @RealJeffZENGER. Besse: "All ballots have been counted and there is a close but clear decision in NC House District 74. I've congratulated Mr. Zenger on his win." #Election2020
Per @NCCapitol, Guilford, Chatham and Union counties are still out. While Newby currently holds a razor-thin lead over Beasley in the Supreme Court chief justice race, it could go either way.
https://twitter.com/NCCapitol/status/1327299664169873411
New ballots in from Chatham... and Newby's lead over Beasley is down to 66 votes
Now, it's Beasley leading Newby by 221 votes. This is the third time the NC Supreme Court chief justice race has flipped in roughly the past 24 hours, by my count.
I had this question myself — about whether we could expect that all NC counties would completely report results by the end of the day. Apparently, the answer is... no.
https://twitter.com/NCCapitol/status/1327309521916751884
Newby up by 27 votes now. Seems like this race might toggle back and forth for the rest of the day.
Forsyth County Board of Election member Stuart Russell looking at chief justice race, noting the margin is less than 100 votes. "A statewide race? I've never seen anything like it."
Forsyth County Board of Elections getting ready to certify results of the 2020 election, but I have to head out for school pickup.
Forsyth County Board of Elections meeting adjourned.
Hopping over to the Guilford County Board of Elections meeting now. Guilford is North Carolina's third largest county and hasn't reported additional ballots since election night.
Guilford County BOE disapproves 62 provisional ballots by voters once registered in county but who moved more than 30 days before election; 48 provisionals where voters put down addresses outside county; and 21 who were removed after election office failed to reach them by mail
Guilford County BOE disapproves 13 ballots cast by voters with felony convictions. Elections Director Charlie Collicutt says he doesn't know if they're active felons.
Guilford County BOE disapproves 479 provisional ballots cast by voters who aren't registered in Guilford County, and an additional 99 provisionals by voters who missed registration deadline.
Per @newsobserver, CNN, ABC News and NBC News have called North Carolina for Trump, but the AP still considers the race undecided. The AP has also yet to make a call in the NC Supreme Court chief justice race and attorney general race. newsobserver.com/news/politics-… H/T @DBattagliaNC
Rev. T. Anthony Spearman, a Democratic member of the Guilford BOE who is also president of the state NAACP, requests that staff research the 479 provisional voters who were rejected because they weren't registered in county to see if they're students.
New from @newsobserver: The AP has now called North Carolina for Trump. Despite carrying NC, Trump lost the election for US president after the critical battleground states of Pennsylvania, Arizona, Nevada tipped in Biden's favor last week. newsobserver.com/news/politics-…
Guilford BOE discussing a board challenge to a voter who voted during early voting in Guilford on 10/23 and then Wake County processed an absentee request on 10/24. Wake checked her DMV record & confirmed her residency there, & then issued absentee, but she didn't vote in Wake.
Based on discussion so far, it appears the Guilford BOE is going to sustain the challenge against the voter and likely throw out her 1 vote cast in Guilford.
Woman speaking to Guilford BOE says she worked at Lewis Rec Center in Greensboro during early voting & observed machine ballot count was one higher than number of authorization-to-vote forms signed. It suggests extra ballots were being loaded into the machines, she says.
I think the woman is an election judge. I didn't catch her name. She says she worked every evening during early voting.
Elections Director Charlie Collicutt is saying the final numbers added up, but there were some reports during early voting from election workers that the numbers appeared to be off. Not sure I'm understanding why, so I'll try to follow up later.
Collicutt reassures board members the vote totals are accurate. "A vast majority hit their mark every night. And when they did not, we were able to get there." A subordinate election employee who also spoke to the board reviewed the numbers every night & reconciled them.
Collicutt reports that a bipartisan team conducted a hand-eye audit for the presidential race on the NWASH and G40B precincts and the hand count matched the machine count "with no discrepancy."
Pro tip from Guilford Elections Director Charlie Collicutt: If you go a county's election results page and it still says "unofficial," that means they haven't reported all their results. Durham, Buncombe and Guilford — all heavily Democratic counties — are still out.
While we're waiting for results from Guilford, I may as well re-share this story from @NickOchsnerWBTV. Given the incredibly close margin in the chief justice race, it seems likely that more people will be scrutinizing Anson County. wbtv.com/2020/11/12/new…
Guilford County BOE preparing to certify the vote, it looks like
Collicutt says Guilford County BOE has received requests for recounts in County Commission District 4, School Board District 5 and School Board District 3. They're in the margin for recount.
Collicutt says he also anticipates statewide election recount requests.
Local races subject to recount are Dem Mary Beth Murphy v Rep Alan Branson in Guilford County Commission District 4, Rep Pat Tillman and Dem Blake Odum in Guilford School Board District 3, and independent Deborah Napper v Rep Michelle Bardsley in District 5
Guilford County BOE has certified the results and adjourned. Now, waiting for the results to load to the state BOE site.
Cheri Beasley has taken the lead again in the NC Supreme Court race with a 99-vote lead over Paul Newby
Guilford's results are now official, and it looks like other counties are coming in at the same time. Beasley up by 100 votes.
My math indicates the new ballots from Democratic-leaning Guilford County garnered Beasley 1,521 new votes and 727 new votes for Newby. Net gain for Beasley is 644 votes.
Guilford, Buncombe and Pasquotank have all reported within the past 30 minutes or so. Still out: Durham, Robeson, Craven, Duplin, Perquimans, Person, Rockingham, Sampson.
Meanwhile, the recent returns have put Trump back where he was last night — with a ~71,000-vote lead over Biden. Not that it matters: North Carolina has already been called for Trump.
New total has Beasley up 36 votes over Newby. Note it was previously a 100-vote lead. The adjustment appears to be a result of Durham subtracting 71 votes from Beasley and 7 votes from Newby. (Not sure how that happens, but Meck did it at 2:16 pm today.). Durham's vote now final.
Person and Pasquotank counties have uploaded final results in the past 90 minutes. Still out are Craven, Duplin, Perquimans, Robeson, Rockingham and Sampson — all counties where Newby holds an advantage over Beasley.
Is this even statistically possible? The current margin between the two candidates for chief justice of the NC Supreme Court stands at 0.000007 percent.
• • •
Missing some Tweet in this thread? You can try to
force a refresh
