Bladen County sets hand-to-eye recount for Friday at 1 p.m.

ELIZABETHTOWN — Bladen County’s Board of Elections isn’t done with the general election just yet.

All 100 counties will have to conduct a hand-to-eye recount in 3 percent of its precincts for the chief justice of the state Supreme Court race. Each one-stop early voting site is considered a precinct for the purposes of a recount, the state Board of Elections said in a release.

The state choose the precincts by random choice. It has chosen Bladenboro No. 1, or P201 as it is officially known.

Bladen County on Monday set its date to recount on Friday at 1 p.m. The check will be made by four-person, bipartisan teams.

The race between Democratic incumbent Cheri Beasley and Republican challenger Paul Newby has already been recounted by the machines, with only five votes difference from 5,391,501 cast. Newby leads by 401 votes unofficially — 2,695,951 to 2,695,550.

Between them, Beasley and Newby filed more than 100 election protests with county boards. One by Beasley in Bladen County was dismissed unanimously by the three Democrats and one Republican present for the meeting; it has been appealed and, according to the meeting at which it was heard, affects just three votes.

Bruce Thompson, an attorney for the Beasley team, said the race is the closest of any statewide in North Carolina history.

The state board has a hearing on appeals scheduled for Dec. 18. The Bladen County board meets in regular session on Tuesday at 5 p.m.

Newby carried Bladen County 8,889 to 7,723 — a 53.5 percent share. Bladen’s machine recount total had no difference.