Berger challenges narrow loss in Senate primary with recount, voter protests
Republican state Sen. Phil Berger is contesting the outcome of his primary race for North Carolina Senate District 26 after finishing behind Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page by 23 votes.
As local election officials begin a recount, Berger’s campaign is also pursuing formal protests tied to 13 voters in Guilford and Rockingham counties. The dual effort could extend the resolution of one of the state’s closest and most closely watched legislative primaries.
The race has drawn unusual attention because Berger has spent years as one of the most influential figures in North Carolina politics. A loss would mark a major shift in Republican leadership at the General Assembly.
According to state elections officials, Berger filed four protests Tuesday. His campaign claims several voters may have encountered ballot or registration problems that affected the Senate primary.
Those complaints include allegations that eight Guilford County voters received ballots that did not include the Republican primary contest. The campaign also argues that in Rockingham County, three unaffiliated voters were allowed to vote in the GOP primary after first requesting Democratic ballots, one voter was improperly turned away, and another voter who said they changed their registration from Democrat to unaffiliated before the deadline still received a Democratic ballot.
At the same time, the recount process is moving forward in both counties that make up the district. Guilford County began retabulating ballots Tuesday and plans to continue Wednesday. Rockingham County is expected to start its recount Thursday.
Page has said he believes the original outcome will stand.
“Phil Berger has the right to request a recount, and I’m confident it will confirm the outcome: We won,” Page said in a statement.
His campaign later argued that Berger’s protests are too limited in scope to reverse the result.
“The grand total for these paltry allegations is 13 voters,” Page spokesman Patrick Sebastian said. “That's not enough to change the results of this election, even if any of these allegations held up.”
The recount and the protests are separate processes, but either could affect the final result. A recount could slightly alter the current margin, while successful protests could lead to ballots being added, rejected or otherwise reviewed more closely.
Berger spokesman Jonathan Felts defended the challenge, saying the process exists to protect close elections.
“Close election results like this are why the review and recount process allows for a careful review to ensure all legal votes are counted,” Felts said.
Berger’s campaign has also pointed to a larger universe of ballots it wants examined. In its recount request, the campaign said it found about 220 ballots that may deserve closer scrutiny because those voters appeared to participate in other contests on the ballot but not in the Senate race. That does not necessarily indicate a problem, since voters can skip a race, but the campaign argues the number is large enough to justify further review.
“The math on this is: The 233 potentially impacted voters is over 10 times the current vote difference of only 23 votes and could, obviously, impact the election results,” Felts said.
North Carolina recount law does not automatically require county boards to inspect those ballots one by one, but the State Board of Elections can instruct counties to do so. State officials were expected to consider that request Wednesday.
The dispute has also taken on a political edge beyond the vote totals.
Page’s campaign has accused Berger of trying to use the recount and protest process to undo the will of voters. Berger’s allies, meanwhile, have accused Page of discouraging voters from coming forward.
Over the weekend, Page’s campaign sent a text message warning voters that Berger’s campaign might contact them about ballot issues. The message said anyone being pressured to sign something untrue should report it and noted that submitting a false affidavit is a felony.
Berger’s campaign called the text an intimidation tactic.
“The highest-ranking law enforcement official in one of the counties [in the race] is threatening voters in an effort to stop them from coming forward,” Felts said.
Felts said the campaign began looking into the matter after hearing from a voter who believed he had received the wrong ballot. From there, campaign staff contacted other voters in the same Guilford County community and found others who said they may have experienced the same issue.
Questions have also been raised about oversight of the recount. Page has argued that State Auditor Dave Boliek should distance himself from the process because of his ties to Berger. Boliek endorsed Berger before the primary and campaigned with him, while Berger helped push through the law that moved elections oversight from the governor’s office to the auditor’s office.
Boliek has said he is not directly involved in counting votes and does not need to step aside.
“Those decisions are made by the appointed board,” Boliek said last week.
Even so, Page has maintained that the connection could damage public trust, especially given staffing and appointment decisions tied to the elections board.
The final outcome may not be known quickly. Recounts rarely overturn results in North Carolina, but the margin in this race is small enough that both campaigns are preparing for a prolonged fight. Berger and Page have each established legal funds to help cover post-election costs.
Under state law, recounts are only available when the margin is narrow enough and the trailing candidate asks for one. The most basic method is a machine recount, in which ballots are run back through tabulators. More extensive recount options can involve hand review, which sometimes captures voter intent in cases where a machine could not read a mark clearly.
For now, the race remains unresolved, with the recount underway and Berger’s protests still awaiting review.
