LUMBERTON — Jack Moody, whose lead for a District Court judgeship went away when provisional ballots were counted on Thursday, has asked for a recount.
Moody, a Republican, led by 77 ballots before the provisionals were added, but now trails Vanessa Burton, a Democrat, by 71 ballots. The final vote tally was 15,384 to 15,313, according to results that were certified after Friday’s election canvass.
Moody is eligible to ask for a recount because the margin of Burton’s victory is less than 1 percent of all the ballots cast.
Steve Stone, Board of Elections chairman, said the tentative plan is to hold the recount on Nov. 26, after the Thanksgiving holiday, but he will seek the approval of the other three board members when they meet on Tuesday.
A recount typically takes as many as 10 to 12 hours because each precinct is counted individually, and absentees and then provisionals, Stone said. There were about 750 provisionals, but Stone said 307 were tossed out for a variety of reasons.
Moody, who works in the Public Defender’s Office, has twice been the Robeson County Bar Association’s pick to fill a vacant District Court seat, but in each instance, in 2002 and then 2017, the governor picked someone else.
Burton is an assistant prosecutor in the District Attorney’s Office.
The winner will replace Herbert Richardson, who is retiring after being a District Court judge since the late 1970s.
