CHARLOTTE, N.C. — The closely contested North Carolina Supreme Court race will head to a second recount.
Republican Jefferson G. Griffin requested a partial hand recount in his bid for North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice, state election officials announced Monday.
Griffin trails Democratic candidate Allison Riggs by fewer than 1,000 votes following an initial machine recount for the seat on the state's highest court. Over 5.5 million votes were cast in the race.
Griffin protested over 60,000 votes in the race and counties across the state conducted recounts to determine if there were any flaws.
The State Board of Elections will conduct a random drawing Tuesday to select precincts for hand counting across North Carolina's 100 counties.
The sample hand-to-eye recount could trigger a full statewide hand recount if the results differ significantly from the machine count. Officials will determine if the difference, when extrapolated statewide, would be enough to reverse the election outcome.
The random selection process will begin at 9:30 a.m. at the State Board of Elections office in Raleigh.
County election boards will conduct their hand recounts in the selected precincts in the coming days, officials said. The state board plans to release additional details about the process on Tuesday.
