Incumbent Johnston County Commissioner Chad Stewart of Four Oaks was still the leader today (Thursday) following a recount of more than 8,700 ballots cast in the May 8th Republican Primary.
Challenger Richard “Dickie” Braswell of Princeton picked up one additional vote during the recount due to a ‘ballot jam’ being discovered while recounting one of the precincts.
Stewart’s lead decreased from 23 to 22 votes in the race for a District 3 Johnston County Commission seat.
Stewart held an 18 vote lead immediately following the May 8th primary. It increased by 5 votes to 23 when provisional and absentee ballots were added to the total on May 17th. On May 18th, Braswell requested a machine recount because the vote total was so close.
Both candidates were on hand to watch the process at the Johnston County Board of Elections Satellite Office on S. Third Street.
According to Board of Elections Director Leigh Anne Price, Mr. Braswell has until 5:00pm Friday to call for a hand-eye count. If requested, the Election Board would randomly selected two precincts to hand count the May 8th votes to see if they differ from the machine totals. If called for, Price said the hand-eye count would likely take place next week.
The winner of the District 3 Republican Primary will not have any Democratic opposition in the November general election.
