Incumbent Democrat waiting on final election results before conceding Eastern NC race

A North Carolina House member who trailed in Election Night results is waiting until those results are official before he concedes.

Rep. Brian Farkas, a Pitt County Democrat and the incumbent in state House District 9, apparently lost his race by 1.5% to Republican challenger Timothy Reeder, according to unofficial results. The threshold for a recount is 1%.

On Wednesday, Farkas described the unofficial election results as having a “margin that is one of the tightest in North Carolina.”

Farkas is a first-term, moderate Democrat whose district includes East Carolina University in Greenville.

“While the current numbers reported in the District 9 race last night are not where we were hoping to finish, I am not conceding because there is a significant number of both mail-in and provisional ballots that need to be counted,” Farkas said in an emailed statement. “We must make sure that every Pitt County citizen has their voice heard.”

Farkas said that while that means waiting longer than his campaign would like, once the Pitt County Board of Elections has “determined every voter has been accounted for, this campaign will take the appropriate next steps.”

The Daily Reflector newspaper in Greenville reported Thursday that there are still 1,101 mail ballots that may come in, citing the Pitt County Board of Elections. Voters who were sent absentee ballots had to postmark them by Election Day.

On Thursday, elections officials disclosed the number of provisional ballots cast in each county. Pitt County, where Farkas lives, had 768 provisional ballots, which are cast when there are questions about a voter’s eligibility. Two were cast during in-person early voting and the other 766 at precincts on Election Day, according to the State Board of Elections.

Aside from the Farkas-Reeder race, another state House race yet to be called by the Associated Press is House District 73 in Cabarrus County. There, 1.5% of votes separate the candidates, Democrat Diamond Staton-Williams and Republican Brian Echevarria — with Staton-Williams the apparent winner, according to unofficial results.

That race, too, does not currently meet the threshold for a recount. Cabarrus County has 672 provisional ballots. Cabarrus, Pitt and other counties will not finish canvassing provisional and absentee mail-in ballots until Nov. 18, which involves verifying, counting and certifying votes.

If Reeder and Staton-Williams win, that would confirm the unofficial results that show 71 Republican seats in the House, one short of a veto-proof supermajority. However, if Farkas prevails, that would increase the gap to two. If Echevarria wins, that would close the gap and allow Republicans to override Gov. Roy Cooper’s vetoes without help from Democrats.

A provisional ballot is cast by a voter if their name doesn’t appear in the poll book or if there are other questions about their eligibility, according to the State Board of Elections. County boards research each provisional ballot application to make sure the voter is eligible before counting it. Then that ballot is added to official election results during the county canvass process, which is Nov. 18.

Final certification of votes happens during a State Board of Elections meeting at 11 a.m. on Nov. 29.

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