It appears likely there will be a complete re-do of the disputed Ninth Congressional District election -- that re-do would be very costly.
Republican Mark Harris was the apparent winner of the race by a narrow margin, but the results have not been certified because of allegations that some absentee ballots in the eastern part of the district were tampered with.
The State Board of Elections is supposed to meet on or before December 21 to decide if a new election will be held in the wake of the allegations.
If there is going to be an election do-over, the Mecklenburg County Elections Director Michael Dickerson says there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and answered fast.
Dickerson says the first step towards an election redo would be allowing time for candidates to officially file to run.
This could potentially include presumed winner Republican Mark Harris, Democrat Dan McCready, and the incumbent Republican who lost in the primary, Robert Pittenger.
It's likely that if a new election is held, there will be at least one primary -- that could run on for weeks to months. Time also has to be allotted for absentee ballots to be requested and returned.
"Before you known it its five or six months," Dickerson said. "You could be into June before we get this thing done."
For however long it takes, that seat in Congress would remain vacant with the people of the Ninth District having no representation.
According to Dickerson, staging another vote and primary would be expensive with taxpayers picking up the tab.
Dickerson says it costs about $2,500 to $3,000 per precinct.
“You got about 50 precincts in Mecklenburg County that are in the Ninth District," Dickerson said. "So that’s about $150,000.”
Additionally, the cost of absentee ballots and staffing early voting locations is estimated to be another $50,000 to $100,000.
“So you could be up to $300,000 to $400,000 before you know it in the cost of running a new election," Dickerson said.
In other developments Thursday, Democrat Dan McCready took to Twitter and posted a new video asking for a contribution to help him make sure every vote is counted correctly.
Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren also Tweeted asking for support for McCready.
Republican Mark Harris has not been heard from since he put out a video statement a week ago saying he had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.
Harris is scheduled to be one of the speakers December 14 at the Cabarrus County GOP Christmas Gala at the Speedway Club in Concord.