It's over
The Guilford County Board of elections certified election returns this afternoon, after spending the better part of two hours culling provisional ballots, separating those that were cast be registered voters from those cast by people not allowed to vote.
Of the 2,182 provisional ballots cast, 1,194 were counted.
Reasons for throwing out a provisional ballot can vary. Simple reasons include that the voter in question was did not register by the deadline or did not include needed information on their voting form. The Board of Elections threw out 22 ballots cast by one-time felons who had failed to re-register with the board of elections.
As reported earlier, provisional ballots changed the outcome of one Guilford County race. John Parks beat Trudy Wade for an at-large county commissioner seat, despite Wade having a lead after election night.
Guilford County's Steve Troxler may have provisional ballots to thank for his win in the statewide Ag Commissioner race. The AP reported the following Tuesday afternoon:
"Republicans Steve Troxler and Les Merritt were poised to capture seats on the Council of State following a canvass Tuesday of vote totals in last week's election, a state official said.
"Gary Bartlett, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, said unofficial county tallies from the canvass show Troxler with enough votes to oust incumbent Democrat Britt Cobb from the agriculture commissioner's office and Merritt defeating incumbent Democratic auditor Ralph Campbell.
"The results will not be firm until the canvass is finished Wednesday, Bartlett said. The process involves counties double-checking their tabulations from voting machines and adding totals from provisional ballots."