Re-election request rejected

More than nine weeks after Election Day, an N.C. Superior Court judge has ruled that there will not be a new statewide election to settle the controversy over the race for commissioner of agriculture.

Judge James Spencer ordered the N.C. State Board of Elections to find an alternate solution to the dispute surrounding 4,438 lost electronic ballots in Carteret County.

The votes, cast before Nov. 2, disappeared because of an unnoticed error in an electronic voting system, throwing the result of the close election into question and sending the dispute to the state Board of Elections.

Last month, the board called for a new statewide election to determine whether Democratic incumbent Britt Cobb or Republican challenger Steve Troxler would take office.

The board also had changed its voting policy to be able to reach a consensus, said Don Wright, general counsel for the Board of Elections.

The board decided that only three votes were needed to carry any motion. There are three Democrats and two Republicans on the board.

“They tried to skirt the law,” Troxler said of the Board of Elections.

Both Troxler and his lawyer, Marshall Hurley, say the board’s decision to hold a new election was unfair.

Hurley said the discrepancy was a result of petty partisan politics and political rivalry.

Spencer rejected the board’s call for a new election. The board now has to find a new method of determining the commissioner of agriculture.

With the missing ballots uncounted, Cobb trails Troxler by 2,287 votes.

“Britt Cobb has continually asked for a new statewide election since day one,” Troxler said.

Troxler gathered 1,352 affidavits from voters in Carteret County, all stating they cast their ballots for Troxler.

These affidavits, along with the official results from the rest of the state, represent enough votes to declare a victory, Troxler said.

“This proves beyond a reasonable doubt that I have won the election,” he said.

Spencer stopped short of handing Troxler an election victory, but the decision against a new election represents a defeat for Cobb.

Others blame the problem on the faulty voting machines.

“We said from day one that the best way to solve this was in Carteret County,” Cobb said. “If we had a paper trail, there wouldn’t be a problem.”

Contact the State & National Editor at stntdesk@unc.edu.