NORTH CAROLINA, USA — While the two candidates for North Carolina's next governor visited the Triad Tuesday, WFMY News 2 got their reaction to a recent poll out of Elon University.
The university said they surveyed 800 North Carolinians who claimed to be registered voters.
Concerning the governor's race the survey found the following: The majority of voters are concerned about political violence after election day, voters favor Attorney General Josh Stein over opponent Lieutenant Governor Mark Robinson, and less than half of voters have confidence that the national vote count will be fair and accurate.
Robinson was at an Asheboro diner Tuesday morning rallying support from voters. Meanwhile, Stein was in High Point giving out an award on behalf of the AG's office. WFMY New 2 caught up with both candidates at these events.
We asked both candidates about the integrity of the vote counting process. Below is their reaction.
"Certainly, there are a lot of people who don't believe that we have fair elections. The key to that is for elected officials to stop dodging the issue and take it head on. We need to fix the issues that we all see in our election system no matter what they may be," said Robinson.
"It's one of our most important civic jobs, make sure our elections work. I want North Carolinians to know that no matter how they vote whether it's by mail, or whether its early, or whether it's on election day, their vote will be counted, and they will have an impact on who wins and who loses," said Stein.
We also got reaction from both candidates in regard to the favorability survey findings.
"We don't pay any attention to that. What we pay attention to is what we're seeing on the ground and we're not seeing that at all. We all know these polls don't speak for everybody; they don't speak for the people. The people speak on November 5th. And I'm sure when they speak, they're gonna choose Mark Robinson," explained Robinson.
"We call it a poller-coaster. There's gonna be good polls, there's gonna be bad polls, but there's only one poll that matters and that's in November. So, what I'm doing is traveling around the state, talking to as many North Carolinians as I can to share my vision and contrast the job-killing vision of my opponent, Mark Robinson, and I'm hopeful the voters will choose us come November 5th," said Stein.
To be clear, Stein was not in the Triad for a campaign event. He was actually in High Point giving out the Dogwood Award. The award recognizes people who are working to improve the lives of North Carolinians'. Tuesday's award was given out at Caring Services, a treatment and recovery center for those dealing with substance abuse. Founder Becky Yates was presented the award.
"Yes, it's been the greatest blessing of my life is to be a part of something bigger than me," exclaimed Yates.