NEW HANOVER COUNTY — Republican Supreme Court Justice Paul Newby filed an election protest against the New Hanover County Board of Elections late Thursday evening in his race for Chief Justice against incumbent Democrat Cheri Beasley.
New Hanover is one of eight counties that received a similar protest from Newby in recent days, citing alleged absentee by-mail irregularities. As of 4:30 p.m. Friday, Newby was ahead of Beasley in N.C. by just 379 votes; the two swapped the winning spot in the razor-thin race at least three times Friday, as county boards across the state tallied remaining absentee by-mail and provisional votes.
Related: GOP flags hundreds of absentee ballots, review still uncertain
Newby trails behind Beasley by 5,007 votes in New Hanover County. At this point, all votes have been tabulated with no remaining ballots left to consider. However, because of Newby’s complaint, the New Hanover County Board of Elections certified canvass results in all contests except the Chief Justice and Attorney General’s race — the two contests Newby listed in his protest.
Beasley leads Newby by 11,329 absentee by-mail votes in New Hanover County. He is behind Beasley in both total votes and absentee by-mail votes in each county he filed a protest in: Wake, Mecklenberg, Durham, Robeson, Scotland, Guilford, and Duplin.
Robeson County Board of Elections dismissed Newby’s election protest at a preliminary hearing held Friday morning, according to a response filed on behalf of Beasley, Attorney General Josh Stein, and the North Carolina Democratic Party in opposition to his filing. Durham County Board of Elections similarly dismissed the Newby protest Friday afternoon.
Newby’s “cookie-cutter filings” do not prove a single absentee by-mail ballot was inappropriately approved, according to the motion to dismiss, filed by Wilmington attorney Kathleen Glancy and the Raleigh-based firm Wallace & Nordan, LLP.
At its Friday canvass, the New Hanover County Board of Elections scheduled a preliminary hearing for 1 p.m. Monday to review the election protest. At this first step in reviewing the protest, the county board must determine the complaint establishes probable cause, per N.C. State Board of Elections guidance. If it passes this phase, the board would schedule a protest hearing, in which it must determine the challenger presented substantial evidence of voting irregularities and whether the issues would change the outcome of the election.
Related: With 2,200 remaining ballots counted, local results hold, still in recount margin
In his filing, Newby alleges the board inappropriately accepted three absentee by-mail ballots after the Nov. 6 statutory deadline. According to the response, this concern is without merit because the U.S. Supreme Court sided with the state in its recent settlement agreement with a voting rights group that extended the deadline to Nov. 12.
Newby also alleges the board accepted an unspecified number of ballots without a postmark received after Nov. 3 and 49 ballots contained in envelopes with irregularities, ranging from no witness signature to a deficient witness address.
He reported the state GOP assisted him with preparing the protest but also answered “no” to a question on the form asking whether any candidate, political party, organization, or person acting on behalf of the same requested that he bring the protest forward.
At the board meeting Friday, elections chair Thomas Pollard said he was surprised by late-night filing. It is the first election protest Pollard can remember in recent years that was filed by a candidate.
View the Nov. 12 election protest and the motion to dismiss below:
Newby Protest by Johanna Ferebee Still on Scribd
Response to Newby by Johanna Ferebee Still on Scribd
Send tips and comments to Johanna Ferebee Still at johanna@localdailymedia.com
