By Shavonne Potts
spotts@salisburypost.com
LANDIS — The tie is broken, for now, in the Landis mayor’s race. After a recount Thursday at the Rowan County Board of Elections, incumbent Mayor Dennis Brown leads by one vote.
On Tuesday night, Brown and challenger James Furr finished with 195 votes apiece. But after feeding the ballots through the tabulator Thursday in what they called a discretionary recount, election officials determined Furr had one less vote.
The new totals for Brown are 187 votes received at the polls, seven early votes and one mail-in vote. The totals for Furr are 181 votes received at the polls, 13 early votes and no mail-in votes.
On Tuesday, elections officials will consider the status of three provisional ballots. If allowed, they will count in the final totals and may help determine a winner.
Elections Director Nancy Evans explained the difference in Furr’s total could have been because of a ballot the machine read in error on Tuesday.
Sometimes voters will incorrectly mark a ballot and it is not counted, she said.
Brown and Furr attended the recount, but both declined to comment afterward. Both said they would comment after provisional ballots are counted.
Contact Shavonne Potts at 704-797-4253.