CHARLOTTE, N.C. (QUEEN CITY NEWS) — Two Mecklenburg County races will be headed for a recount Friday, after local Board of Election members sorted through dozens of provisional and absentee ballots Thursday night.
The addition of the newly approved votes leads to tight key races within the margin of a recount.
Those are a Pineville town council seat, and the mayoral race in Cornelius.
The Pineville race was the closest race prior to Thursday evening, where both candidates held 624 votes coming out of the Nov. 7 election. If the tie remained after Thursday, the winner between Danielle Moore and Eric Fransen would have been decided by fate: drawing names from a hat, flip of a coin, etc.)
By 9 p.m. Thursday, Danielle Moore had secured three more votes, while Fransen had secured none.
Moore, who is believed to be the town council member-elect, told Queen City News after the votes were tallied, “Nothing prepares you to see a tie with second place. It was overwhelmingly shocking, but great.”
She went on to stress that she will spend her term not only focused on how to make the town better, but how to reduce the risk of another close race.
“Now that I’m out there and I have that Pineville presence and more people are aware that I am in the council I hope to be able to use that as a platform to prove myself they can believe in me,” Moore explained.
Fransen is out of the country and is six hours ahead in time.
However, it is said that a recount will occur on Friday.
The race for Cornelius mayor entered Thursday with a vote margin of 13, in favor of incumbent Woody Washam over Commissioner Denis Bilodeau.
That gap shortened to five votes after provisional and absentee ballots were counted.
The recount will happen after the canvass at the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections.
