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Ballot Canvass Confirms One Outcome, Changes Another

By Jenny Callison, posted Nov 14, 2014
Update: This version corrects the counties included in the District 5 judicial race.

New Hanover County Board of Elections completed its tally of valid provisional ballots and remaining absentee ballots Thursday and conducted its official vote canvass Friday, according to Board of Elections officials.

The official vote count confirmed Rob Zapple's win -- albeit with a slimmer lead -- over Derrick Hickey for a seat on the New Hanover County Board of Commissioners, Board of Elections director Marvin McFadyen said Friday.

"In the first tally, Mr. Zapple was ahead of Mr. Hickey by 204 votes. At the end of the canvass, which included valid provisional ballots and absentee ballots, Mr. Zapple was still ahead but by fewer votes -- a total of 186," the board's chairman John Ferrante said.

Because the difference in vote totals is less than 1 percent of the votes cast in that race, Hickey can request a recount. He has until 5 p.m. Monday to do so. A call to the candidate on Friday was not returned by press time.

The other race whose results went down to the wire was for district court judge for the 5th Judicial District, which encompasses New Hanover and Pender counties. Preliminary results from the two counties, McFadyen said, showed Kent Harrell, a Burgaw attorney, ahead by 17 votes.

After provisional and absentee ballots were counted and the tallies certified in the canvass in each county, however, the outcome was different. Lindsey Luther, an assistant district attorney in New Hanover County and Harrell's opponent, was declared the winner -- by a margin of 13 votes, Pender County Board of Election officials confirmed.

McFadyen said that, while the canvass resulted in changes in some vote counts, no other race outcomes were changed. The board director also said that, because the race for district court judge is multijurisdictional, Harrell would need to request a recount from the state rather than from the two counties involved.
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