Miller wins soil, water post on recount

BY MARK WINEKA
SALISBURY POST

Bruce Miller’s request for a recount of votes paid off.

Miller learned Tuesday that he won his contest for Rowan County Soil and Water Conservation supervisor by two votes, beating Donald Beaver 12,597 to 12,595.

Tuesday’s recount reversed the earlier outcome, which had Beaver winning by nine votes, 12,586 to 12,577. Those totals were based on a canvass that added provisional ballots to Election Day totals.

The recount made the numbers change again as each precinct ballot was hand-fed into counting machines, and some individual ballots, marked incorrectly, were judged for voter intent.

A voter may have put a check beside a candidate’s name but failed to darken in the appropriate oval, Rowan Elections Director Nancy Evans said as an example.

Because the soil and water conservation race’s winning margin was less than 1 percent, the runner-up was allowed to ask for a recount, which Miller did a week ago.

Beaver is not expected to protest the results, though he would have until noon today to do so.

Miller, a retired South Rowan High agriculture teacher, will take the four-year seat on the Board of Supervisors that has been held by Ed Church.

The Rowan County Board of Elections joined other counties in also doing a recount in contests for N.C. labor commissioner and a seat on the N.C. Court of Appeals.

The recount has Republican Cherie Berry with 24,703 Rowan votes to Democrat Douglas Berger’s 17,600. The numbers did not drastically change in favor of either candidate.

Berger had asked for the statewide recount after Berry narrowly defeated him on Election Day.

In the Appeals Court recount, Republican John M. Tyson captured 24,357 Rowan votes; Democrat Jim Fuller, 17,600.

Fuller also had asked for a statewide recount after narrowly losing to Tyson.