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NC election officials extend voting time at 2 precincts

The extensions follow delays at the start of Election Day at a precinct in Morganton and another in Wilson County.

RALEIGH, N.C. — Two North Carolina precincts will remain open an extra 30 minutes Tuesday night due to problems that delayed voting at the start of Election Day.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections approved extensions until 8 p.m. for the Pilot Mountain precinct in Burke County and Gardners School precinct in Wilson County during a virtual emergency meeting Tuesday afternoon. Due to the delay, unofficial results will not be reported in Burke and Wilson counties until 8 p.m., 30 minutes after the other 98 counties. 

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An affidavit filed by the state Republican Party said voting was delayed at the Pilot Mountain precinct in Morganton by roughly 30 minutes and seven voters got out of line and left as a result. 

The county's election administrator said the delay was due to a voter check-in laptop failing to initially boot up. The board voted 4-1 to keep the precinct open an extra half hour, which would allow those who left enough time to return, if they haven't already.

Meanwhile, the board voted unanimously to extend voting by 30 minutes at the Gardners School precinct in Wilson County. The board learned voting was delayed by nearly 90 minutes after "poll workers were unable to print authorization to vote forms and did not go to their back-up procedures." In that precinct, an estimated 10 or more voters left, but a handful may have returned.

The board said statewide results will not be held up as a result of the two extensions. Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the state board, told WCNC Charlotte's Flashpoint that North Carolina hopes to have unofficial results tabulated by midnight on Election Day, but the election won't be official until 10 days after the election when state officials meet to verify the results during the canvassing process. 

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