ELIZABETHTOWN — Election results from Bladen County were approved by the Board of Elections on Friday during a canvass and have been sent to the state Board of Elections for verification.
The state board will hold its canvass on Friday.
There were no changes to the vote totals as approved at Tuesday’s board meeting. There, the board accepted absentee-by-mail ballots that met requirements to include date of postmark, and ruled on provisional ballots that were cast.
The board took one other action in Friday morning’s meeting. A request from Ken Register Jr. for a recount was made in the primary for District 3 Republicans. Register was outside of the 1 percent threshold that allows for a recount, but the county board does have the discretionary authority to grant the request.
The county board voted unanimously to deny, with some of the discussion before voting centering on setting a precedent. The decision cannot be appealed to the state board, said Director Chris Williams.
Register lost his primary by 13 votes, a difference of 1.17 percent behind Dr. Danny Ellis. With 1,111 votes counted, Register needed to be within 11 votes to be at or under 1 percent difference.
As the canvass proceeded over the course of about 45 minutes, there was some informal discussion on increasing pay for workers at the polls. The board next meets in April.
With the canvass complete, the state verification is all that awaits making results official.
In Bladen County races:
• County commissioner, at-large, Democrats: Michael Cogdell 1,854; Mark Gillespie 1,609; Greg Taylor 615; William Moore 158. Cogdell, Gillespie and Taylor advance to the Nov. 3 election that includes Republicans Ray Britt and David Gooden; the top three of the five will win seats on the commission.
• County commissioner, District 2, Republicans: Rodney Hester 811, Daniel Dowless 698. Hester advances to the Nov. 3 election. No Democrats or other parties filed; this is for one seat on the commission.
• County commissioner, District 3, Democrats: Jimmie Smith 900, Steve Patterson 524. Smith advances to the Nov. 3 election against Republican Dr. Danny Ellis. This is for one seat on the commission.
• County commissioner, District 3, Republicans: Dr. Danny Ellis 444, Ken Register Jr. 431, Judy Bowen 236. Ellis advances to the Nov. 3 election against Democrat Jimmie Smith. This is for one seat on the commission.
On Super Tuesday, the Old North State’s voters made primary winners of Democrat Cal Cunningham in the bid for U.S. Senate, Republican Lt. Gov. Dan Forest in the bid for governor and Democrat Joe Biden in the bid for president of the United States. Cunningham will face Republican Sen. Thom Tillis, and Forest goes against Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. Biden will need to win his party’s nomination this summer at the Democratic National Convention.
In the U.S. House District 7 primary for Democrats, Mark Judson earned a spot opposite Republican incumbent Rep. David Rouzer on Nov. 3. This district will encompass all of Bladen County when Congress convenes in January; District 9 includes a northern portion of the county until then.