N.C. Senate Leader Phil Berger, left, remains 23 votes behind his primary challenger, Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, after an initial machine recount in Rockingham and Guilford Counties. (Berger photo courtesy of NC General Assembly; Page photo courtesy of his campaign)
Ballot recounts in the consequential primary between Rockingham Sheriff Sam Page and North Carolina state Senate leader Phil Berger resulted in no change in the challenger’s 23-vote lead over Berger.
However, Berger also filed protests in Rockingham and Guilford counties, and election officials in both counties agreed Thursday to hear them.
The Guilford County Board of Elections voted unanimously to allow the protest there to proceed, with an April 6 hearing date. Rockingham County Board of Elections will hear evidence in the protests there March 27.
According to Berger’s petition, the State Board of Elections is also investigating.
The county boards first had to find probable cause that Berger’s allegations might be true in order to move to hearings.
“It’s just a reasonable effort to make sure that there’s not a frivolous protest,” Rockingham elections chair Don Powell said.
Berger (R-Rockingham) alleges that in Guilford, eight early voters were given the wrong ballot.
Paul Cox, the former long-time attorney for the State Board of Elections who is now in private practice, is representing Page.
Cox told the Guilford board that Berger’s protest did not identify the voters who said they were given the wrong ballot, hindering his client’s opportunity to mount a defense.
Berger’s lawyer said he was worried about making those voters’ identities public. The two sides were told to come to an agreement, though concealing voters’ identities from the public in an election protest is a potential violation of state public records law.
“I do want to point out that the parties are not going to be able to sort of agree their way out of any public records law that might apply,” Guilford elections director Charlie Collicutt told the board.
In Rockingham, Berger’s three protests center on five voters.
One, Berger alleges, was wrongly denied the opportunity to vote after election officials failed to update her address in time.
Another, an unaffiliated voter, was incorrectly told she could only participate in the Democratic primary, according to Berger.
He also claims three voters were wrongly permitted to participate in the Republican primary after requesting Democratic ballots.
Rockingham elections board member Wally White asked if there’s a point in considering protests when the total number of contested votes in both counties are less than the margin separating Page and Berger.
“With a 23 vote difference right now, I question whether there is something determinative here that would change anything,” he said.
Rockingham County finished its recount Thursday afternoon with no changes to last week’s totals. The Guilford County recount resulted in each candidate losing one vote.
At this point, Berger can ask the state Board of Elections to order a partial hand-eye recount.
It’s time for Berger to concede, Patrick Sebastian, Page’s post-election advisor, said in an emailed statement.
“Phil Berger lost this race — and the recount confirmed it,” Sebastian said. “His refusal to accept that reality is an insult to voters and a waste of taxpayer dollars. It’s time for Phil Berger to concede and offer his complete and total endorsement to Sam Page.”
Berger has led the NC Senate since 2011 and is one of the state’s most powerful politicians.
President Donald Trump endorsed Berger, and the Berger campaign and supportive political action committees spent more than $10 million on the campaign, much of that in advertisements meant to damage Page.
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