The North Carolina Supreme Court has ruled that some 11,000 provisional ballots cast in the wrong precincts in November’s election should not be counted in the state schools superintendent’s race. It sent the case back to a lower court in Wake County to decide the winner of the contested race.
After two recounts, the state board of elections had declared Democrat June Atkinson the winner by about 8,000 votes. But GOP challenger Bill Fletcher asked the court to nullify votes cast in the wrong polling places, charging that they were unconstitutional. The supreme court voted 5-0 on Feb. 4 to overturn the lower-court rulings on the matter.
Meanwhile, House Democrats filed a bill last week that would allow the Democratic-controlled legislature to decide contested state races.
