Wrap-up

First, the results tonight are unofficial, pending a canvass by the Board of Elections.
These are Hoke County results only; many races include votes from other counties (or across the country)

There are five races with preliminary discrepancies  between our count and the election board's. The differences range from one vote to 40 (in the U.S. Senate race), but all are inconsequential. We'll publish the board's in the newspaper. There is no discrepancy in the one local contested race—commission.

Finals

The final chart, (with a few very minor discrepancies)

Houston, we have a problem

We've compared our finals with the Board of Election are there some significant discrepancies, particularly in the District Court Judge 16A race. Checking it out now to find the problem.. Hang on

final unofficial

Still waiting for absentee counts, others in

Philippi

One more precinct after this.

Adds Wayside, Allendale

Adds Raeford 1, Buchan, and McCain

Adds Puppy Creek, Raeford 4, and Stonewall

Adds Raeford 5, Raeford 3, Antioch

Raeford 2

blue springs

Absentee and One Stop (Early Voting)

The polls closed at 7:30 p.m. and here are the results of early voting. (Click chart to enlarge). *Does NOT include absentee ballots yet**

This page refreshes every minute.

We'll upload results as we get them, precinct by precinct.

Hoke County Board of Elections

Election Day

It's Election Day and more than one-third of Hoke County voters cast their ballots during early voting, which ended Saturday. It's not quite so busy at the polls today so far, however. And there's been a few hiccups, but nothing serious. At Don Steed Elementary School, a polling place, a battery failed in a voting machine and until it could be replaced, ballots were collected for later insertion. That caused concern for at least one person, but the situation is resolved.

The News-Journal will provide election results for Hoke County as votes are tabulated, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Bookmark us and join us, or better yet, come down to our office across from the Post Office and enjoy a little community and food.

Finals (unofficial)

These are final results for Hoke County only. Results are unofficial until a canvass by the Board of Elections.

Just missing 3 precincts

Adds precincts

Absentee/ One Stop

Alston concedes

Final results of the Democratic primary commissioner's race are in: Commissioner Bobby Wright - 2,901; Commission Chairman James Leach - 2,813; candidate Joe Alston – 2,776; candidate Lonnie Baldwin – 1,689. Alston conceded the race this morning and will not seek a recount. Wright and Leach will go on to face Republican candidate William "Brownie" Brown in November's General Election.

Thursday

Word from the board of elections is there's more than 200 provisional ballots to research, which will continue until Monday. Because the commission race is so close those ballots could affect the outcome. Again, the final official vote will be known Tuesday.

One precinct will be audited—it's just a routine check-and-balances kind of thing. No problems otherwise suspected.

Lots of complaints about voters not being allowed to vote on another party's ballot. But those are the rules.

Correction from Scotland County

After verifying numbers with the State Board of Elections we see an error of 100 votes from Scotland County in the district attorney race. James Allen had 1,690 there, not 1,590. The error doesn't change the outcome.

So what happened to Rockfish?

Why was Rockfish so late in reporting?
Elections Supervisor Caroline Shook says there were voters in line at 7:30 when the polls closed, and they were allowed to vote, as required. That set things behind.
Then when precinct workers reported they were on their way from Rockfish to Raeford with the results they were being optimistic, or perhaps hopeful, and weren't quite really on their way.
Nearly an hour and several unanswered phone calls later, board officials were beginning to get really concerned and were even about ready to bring in the sheriff's department. But alas, the results arrived.

Wednesday morning

Back now fresh with several hours of sleep, here's what's going on.
The Board of Elections is turning its attention to provisional ballots, because the commissioners race is so close. Today they begin researching each ballot to see if they're eligible to be included in the count.

Reasons someone's vote may be provisional:
• The person isn't registered or the precinct worker was unable to find the person's name.
• The person moved and didn't report it, either within the precinct or to another one
• The person didn't have an acceptable form of identification
• The person disputed his/her party affiliation or wanted to vote with a different ballot

The researching begins today but ** the count will be Monday **

Also, all numbers are unofficial until a canvass, which will be held Tuesday.

Final words

Our numbers do check out. But keep in mind these numbers are unofficial until a canvass by the Board of Elections Tuesday. Also, there are an unknown number of provisional ballots that will be factored in. They have not been counted yet. First, the board must research the validity of each ballot. That will be done tomorrow (Wednesday). And it's possible a candidate may call for a recount.

The final chart is here. (It shows Hoke results only, except in the district attorney race, which shows results from Scotland County, provided by our friends at the Laurinburg Exchange. Good night.

We're going to double-check and give a final report in 5 minutes

Stay tuned while we check our figures, and we'll recap in just a few minutes

Final in

Rockfish is in but there are some provisional ballots in that will need to be counted and may affect the results.

Rockfish missing

Rockfish is in the building (Board of Elections Building, that is). The elections supervisor was just about to literally call the sheriff out of concern. Anyway, we should have the final precinct shortly

Still Waiting for Rockfish results

One percent? What's that mean?

A candidate may call for a recount if results are within one percent… explanation from the board is this example
one candidate gets 45%, the other 46%; but not one 45% and the other 47%. We need a mathematician to state this correctly.

Runoff?

There will not be a runoff even if there's a difference of one vote.

While we're waiting...

Remember all results tonight are unofficial until a canvass by the Board of Elections Tuesday. A loser can call for a recount if results are within one percent.

Because it's so close

Because the results are so close in the Hoke Commission race, we're going to double-check our figures with the Board of Elections immediately following the posting of the last precinct. No reason to suspect a problem, but hey, it's late. We'll make one final post to confirm after Rockfish comes in.

Last precict?

They're driving the results in from Rockfish now….

Why the wait?

Apparently there were people in line at 7:30. So democracy slowed down for them.

Scene outside the office (Waiting for the last precinct)

Adds Wayside (One precinct to go)

Early Votes

Hoke County had 3,627 early voters.

Two precincts out

Still waiting on two precincts—Rockfish and Wayside

Adds Raeford #3 (Wayside still to come)

Adds Puppy Creek ...two precincts to go

Adds Raeford Number 5

Adds Buchan - 5 Precincts to go

Adds McCain

Adds Allendale

Adds Philippi

Adds Stonewall

Adds Scotland County Unofficial FINAL to D.A. race

Raeford Number 4

Raeford Number 1

Blue Springs

Antioch, Raeford Number 2

Absentee, One Stop Results

Absentee, One Stop Results