LUMBERTON — The race for a seat on the local District Court bench inched closer Friday to a probable vote recount with Jack Moody’s lead over Vanessa Burton dwindling by 45 votes.
The Robeson County Board of Elections counted the absentee ballots it received between Election Day and 5 p.m. Friday, board Chairman Steve Stone said. As a result, Jack Moody’s vote count now stands at 15,165, up from 15,126 at the end of voting on Tuesday. Vanessa Burton’s vote count rose from 14,988 to 15,072.
This means a recount could be possible because the difference in the two vote counts is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast in the race, Stone said.
The Elections Board still must certify and count provisional ballots, which is scheduled to happen at 3 p.m. on Thursday. Provisional ballots are provided at polling sites when there is a dispute about a voter’s eligibility. The voter casts a provisional ballot that can be counted if it is later determined that person is eligible to vote.
After the provisional ballots are counted and added to totals, the election results must be certified, Stone said. This will happen after the Elections Board conducts its canvas, which is scheduled to start at 11 a.m. Friday.
Burton can ask for a recount if the vote differential between her and Moody remains less than 1 percent of all votes cast in the race.
“We do not automatically conduct a recount,” Stone said. “A recount must be requested by a candidate.”
The results of Friday’s counting of the absentee ballots did not effectively alter other political contests in Robeson County, Stone said.
Moody, a public defender, and Burton, an assistant district attorney, are vying to see who will fill Herbert Richardson’s judicial seat. Richardson announced he is retiring at the end of year.
No such drama has risen in the other two District Court judicial races as a result of Tuesday’s midterm election.
Assistant District Attorney Angelica Chavis McIntyre handily defeated incumbent Dale Deese by a vote count of 19,893 to 9,240. It was McIntyre’s first run for elected office.
Brooke Locklear Clark was unopposed in her bid for a full term in the bench seat she already occupies.
In July, Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Clark to the seat after Chief District Court Judge J. Stanley Carmical took on the role of Superior Court judge. Clark will finish out the term that ends Dec. 31 and will be sworn in as a permanent District Court judge in January.
