Wake County Board of Elections (BOE) reported that 251,332 citizens participated in the early voting process, of which 10,778 registered and voted on the same day.

Wake County easily surpassed its initial goal of accommodating 200,000 early voters. More people voted during the early voting period than on Election Day, when 168,060 residents came out to vote.

Absentee Ballots
The BOE mailed out over 27,000 requested absentee ballots and received back 22,553 completed ballots.

Provisional Ballots
Wake County had 4,025 provisional ballots cast in 2008 (of those, 2,068 were qualified Wake County voters whose ballots were counted), in comparison to more than 13,000 cast in 2004 (of those, 10,915 were qualified ballots). There were less provisional ballots cast due to a change in the law, allowing voters to update their addresses at early voting sites. A pilot program in Wake County allowed every precinct to have a laptop, which verified voter eligibility and voting locations.

Wake County’s BOE certified the Presidential Election on Friday, November 14, 2008, at 11 a.m. It marked the first time the County has not conducted a countywide recount after an election in about 18 years. Even with the election over, BOE staff still has to sort one-stop (early ballots), absentee by mail ballots and provisional ballots (nearly 275,000) into 198 precincts.

High Voter Turnout
In total, 444,013 people voted in Wake County for the General Election, which means that Wake County had a 75 percent voter turn out.

The State Board will certify the statewide election on Tuesday, November 25, 2008. It does not appear as if a statewide recount will be needed.

RALEIGH, N.C.  – The margin of President-elect Barack Obama’s victory in North Carolina is just about finalized.

Obama received 14,192 more votes than Republican nominee John McCain after the lawful provisional ballots were added to the totals.

The Associated Press declared Obama the winner Nov. 6 after determining there weren’t enough provisional ballots to change the outcome. Obama will be the first Democrat to receive North Carolina’s electoral votes since 1976.

State elections director Gary Bartlett said Thursday the results likely won’t change before the State Board of Elections certifies election winners Tuesday.

Libertarian candidate Bob Barr received 25,722 votes – less than 1 percent of the total vote. Overall voter turnout was 69.5 percent, slightly higher than the recent record set in 1984.

RALEIGH, N.C. – Provisional ballots are doing little to change the final margin of North Carolina’s presidential race.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain gained 310 extra votes as counties tallied some 17,500 provisional ballots Friday.

But he still trails President-elect Barack Obama by some 12,804 votes.

There are still about three dozen counties who haven’t reported results. Friday was the day counties were to canvass their provisional ballots and provide numbers to the State Board of Elections.

The Associated Press declared Obama the winner last week after determining there weren’t enough provisional ballots to change the outcome. Obama did not need North Carolina’s 15 electoral votes to win the White House.

DURHAM, N.C. — Durham County’s director of elections says there are about 2,000 provisional ballots in Durham County alone.

In North Carolina, the difference between votes for president-elect Barrack Obama and Senator John McCain remains at 11,246 votes according to the State Board of Elections.

The relatively small difference in votes has caused elections officials to focus on provisional ballots, which have not been counted so far.

“Historically, the provisional ballots will be around 40,000,” said the state’s executive director Gary Bartlett.

According to Bartlett, provisional ballots come from voters who had identification problems at the precinct.

“Either their name is not on the poll books and there is some issue with ID, or [there is a] jurisdictional dispute,“ Bartlett said.

The state board’s executive director said on average, about 65 percent of provisional ballots are able to be verified and counted. Historically, those votes favor the candidate that already has the lead.

“Therefore, it should increase Obama’s lead,” Bartlett said.

Bartlett says the results from provisional ballots should be released when County elections officials canvas, or audit, their election results. Countywide canvassing is scheduled for Nov. 14.

The state board of elections conducts its own canvas of election results. That audit will take place on Nov. 25 — the same day North Carolina’s election results are officially certified.