Mail-in ballots could impact two races in Mecklenburg County

MECKLENBURG COUNTY, N.C. — The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections is counting mail-in ballots, and that count could change the results of two very close races.

On Thursday, the board is sifting through around 4100 mail-in ballots to verify that they were properly marked and sent in before 7:30 p.m. on election night. Once those votes are verified, they will be run through tabulators.

First is State House District 105 between Republican Tricia Cotham and Democrat Nicole Sidman.

Currently, Cotham leads Sidman by just 275 votes. We are told that 313 mail-in votes are being counted on Thursday, including that race.

The other race is State Senate District 42 between Democrat Woodson Bradley and Republican Stacie McGinn. Bradley leads McGinn in that race by just 27 votes.

Officials told Channel 9 that 802 mail-in votes being counted included that race. Those results are expected Thursday afternoon.

Mecklenburg County Elections Director Michael Dickerson explained the process for counting.

“What we expect is to be able to produce these absentee results numbers, which are supposed to be counted. They came in, like I said, around 7:30 p.m. on election night. Those are the ones that we are allowed to count,” said Dickerson.

These will likely not be the final votes counted in Mecklenburg County. There are 5,000 provisional ballots currently being checked to see if they are eligible to be counted.

Dickerson told Channel 9 late Thursday afternoon that his staff finished counting absentee ballots and will count provisional ballots next week.

It is unclear how many of those could affect those two close races in the state House and Senate.

VIDEO: Board of elections prepares for results in Mecklenburg County

Board of elections prepares for results in Mecklenburg County

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