CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Over 100,000 absentee ballots requested by North Carolinians that have not yet been counted may be crucial determinants of some close races, including the race between President Donald Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden for the White House.
Mail-in absentee ballots postmarked on or before Nov. 3 can be accepted up until Nov. 12, the Supreme Court ruled last month. Several other states that remain too close to call, including Georgia, Michigan and Nevada, are still counting mail-in ballots. Wisconsin, which started out strong for Trump on election night, has now been called in favor of Biden. However, the Trump administration has already signaled that they want a recount in the state.
The race results you see on WCNC's website and app are populated by tallies from the Associated Press. Any race results you see on WCNC's newscasts are populated by NBC. Both entities have different parameters for how they determine a race has been called, which is why you may see a difference in Electoral College numbers.
In North Carolina, the State Board of Elections originally reported 117,000 outstanding absentee ballots. As of 12:30 p.m. on Nov. 9, that count was down to 99,400. However, it's unclear how many of those would need to be counted, as voters could have chosen to vote in person on Election Day, which would cancel out their absentee ballot. Also, if the ballots were not postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 12, those ballots would not count in the final result.
“With very few exceptions would North Carolinas numbers move until November 12 or 13,” said Karen Brinson Bell, the Director of the State Board of Elections.
In Mecklenburg County, elections officials are expecting about 8,000 more mail-in ballots to arrive. On Wednesday, they received about 1,000.
“Remember all of those absentees that we mailed out may not be voted," Michael Dickerson, the director of elections for Mecklenburg County, said. "They may be like me who asked for an absentee by mail, but I went and voted early up at the Spectrum Center."
“We ask to let the process happen just as it has in previous elections and with that, we will be able to ensure an accurate and fair election for North Carolinians and they can have confidence in the votes they cast,” Brinson Bell said.
As of Friday morning, there are about 99,000 outstanding absentee ballots, according to the North Carolina State Board of Elections website. New data showed a majority of those ballots still out there were requested in Wake and Mecklenburg County.
Here are the counties with the highest amount of unreturned absentee ballots:
- Wake: 15,000
- Mecklenburg: 14,900
- Guilford: 6,700
- Forsyth: 5,400
- Cumberland: 4,100
Here is a breakdown of the unreturned absentee ballots by party:
- Unaffiliated: 45,300
- Democratic: 43,000
- Republican: 26,500
- Libertarian: 1,200
- Green: 200
- Constitution: 100
Dickerson told WCNC Charlotte's Hunter Sáenz that his office had 1,000 of the outstanding absentee ballots ready to be counted. Mecklenburg County's Board of Election will meet to count those votes on Friday at 5 p.m., Dickerson said, and he expects more votes to be returned by then.
Legally, they are waiting until Friday to count the votes because it has to be public, and they have to give prior notice.
While voters wait, counties are going through the typical, but tedious, audit processes, making sure all of the numbers add up and signatures match. There are more than 2,000 provisional ballots in Mecklenburg County to research.
“This is our process," Dickerson said. "This is nothing new just because it’s a close race or just because it’s a presidential [race]. This is what we do every election."
Trump claimed victory in the presidential race Wednesday morning despite undecided races in battleground states. In North Carolina, he leads Democrat Joe Biden by 76,701 votes.
U.S. Senate candidate Thom Tillis also claimed victory over Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham early Wednesday morning with a 96,707 vote lead.
RELATED: Tillis claims victory, Cunningham silent as NC race for U.S. Senate still too close to call
The Associated Press has not yet called the Presidential or Senate race.
Incumbent Democrat Governor Roy Cooper claimed victory over Republican Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest late Tuesday night as Republican Mark Robinson claimed victory over Democrat Yvonne Lewis Holley in the lieutenant gubernatorial race.
RELATED: Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper wins reelection victory against Republican challenger Dan Forest
Other Council of State victors, like Steve Troxler for Commissioner of Agriculture and Dale Folwell for Treasurer, have won by a large enough margin that their races will not be affected by absentee ballots.
However, some Council of State races are close enough that they could still be affected by absentee ballots.
The race results you see on WCNC's website and app are populated by tallies from the Associated Press. Any race results you see on WCNC's newscasts are populated by NBC. Both entities have different parameters for how they determine a race has been called, which is why you may see a difference in Electoral College numbers.
Here are those races:
Attorney General: One-term Democratic incumbent Josh Stein leads Republican Jim O’Neill narrowly in a tight race.
Auditor: Beth Wood, the Democratic incumbent of three terms, leads Republican challenger Tony Street.
Commissioner of Labor: Republican Josh Dobson leads Democrat Jessica Holmes. Long-time incumbent Cherie Berry, a Republican, chose not to pursue her seat again after a five-term run.
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