Teams prepare for vote canvass in Craven, Pamlico

Teams in Craven and Pamlico counties verified sample vote counts on Wednesday, preparing for a vote canvass Friday to make 2008 election results official.

Pamlico County's tally of the votes for president in two precincts, Hobucken and Grantsboro, "were perfect," said Lisa Bennett, elections director. "It took about two hours."

Craven County was asked by the North Carolina State Board of Elections to double-check six precincts this year. An independent contractor picks how many and which precincts to sample.

In Craven, 12 counters, split evenly by party, worked 3 1/2 hours Friday and finished after working another three hours on Wednesday.

Tonya Pitts, Craven County elections director, said she did not have the report comparing the hand count of the ballots to the machine results "at the moment. I haven't seen the comparison."

Pitts said she will be working late and Craven County Board of Elections members will work with her and staff members on Thursday to finish the work.

It includes comparing the hand counts with tapes from the voting machines, verifying the eligibility of 940 provisional ballots, and categorizing absentee votes.

Preliminary comparisons of mailed-in absentee ballot unofficial totals which are posted on the North Carolina State Board of Elections Web site show 8,386 mailed-in absentee ballots for Craven County but Pitts said the actual number is 3,001.

Early voting one-stop numbers posted show 17,196 ballots cast but early counts showed more than 24,000.

"That's why election results are unofficial until the canvass," Pitts said. "We have to pull every one of the tapes and look the numbers called in. It takes a lot of time. Truthfully, 10 days isn't long enough."

A state elections district technician was in Craven County on Wednesday and is expected again today.

Pitt's said there is concern in Raleigh about "really, really making sure the vote is accurate" in Craven County and across the state with the large turnout.

Statewide, 68.9 percent of registered voters cast ballots in 2008, compared with a 1984 record of 69 percent and a high of 68 percent in 1992. In Craven County, 60.65 percent of registered voters cast ballots this year and, in Pamlico County, 73 percent voted.

The vote canvass in Craven County begins at 9 a.m. Friday and in Pamlico County at 11 a.m.