North Raleigh Today

The North Carolina State Board of Elections has ordered a new Republican primary election for Columbus County Commissioner District 2.

The new election will be the same day as the 11th Congressional District second primary, June 23. 

WWAY reports the county board of elections found 10 voters had received a ballot with District 2 information on it on Election Day, but they were not eligible to vote in that district. Results show a margin of four votes between Mack Ward, who garnered the most votes, and runner-up Chris Smith.

The same candidates will be on the ballot - Ward, Smith and third-place candidate W Bernard White.

The state board voted unanimously under the statute that allows them to call for a new election when "ineligible voters sufficient in number to change the outcome of the election were allowed to vote in the election, and it is not possible  from examination of the official ballots to determine how those  ineligible voters voted and to correct the totals."

Only Republican voters in that county commissioner district, as well as unaffiliated voters in that district who did not vote in another party’s primary for the March 3 election, will be eligible to vote in the new election on June 23.