PENDER COUNTY ‘VERY CONFIDENT’ THAT PRIMARY ELECTION WAS ADMINISTERED APPROPRIATELY DESPITE LATE REPORT
PENDER COUNTY, NC – On Primary Day in Pender County, all precincts opened on time, allowing voters to successfully cast their ballots. “Our most important job is to ensure that every voter’s votes are counted, and that elections in Pender County are administered in accordance with state law. Ensuring the integrity of the election results is more important than reporting results quickly,” said Pender County Elections Director Greg Jackson.
When Jackson learned early Tuesday morning that computers and printers at some precincts were not functioning properly, he immediately moved to put contingency plans in place to conduct the election.
“We are required to have these plans in place and to train precinct officials on how to implement contingency plans. We always hope that we don’t need to use our contingency plans, but yesterday we did. I am proud of the work that our elections officials did to ensure the integrity of the Primary Election in Pender County in the face of unexpected technical difficulties,” Jackson added.
The Pender County Board of Elections is made up of three Democrats and two Republicans. Carol Ann Johnson a Democratic appointee, and board chair “It is the solemn duty of the members of the Board of Elections to oversee the County elections staff and all precinct officials, and to ensure that every vote is appropriately counted.” She added, “We don’t need to wait for the dust to settle on this election, as every vote was counted properly.”
In total, 10,506 ballots were cast in the Primary Election in Pender County across 18 precincts in the County, including early voting. The results are unofficial until the Pender County Board of Elections completes the ballot canvass later this month. Those results will be certified to the State Board of Elections.
Pender County was the last County in the State to report results on Primary Day, but County officials are very confident that the election was administered appropriately despite the timing of the results being reported. A State Board of Elections official was in Pender County on Primary Day and observed and assisted Pender County officials with election processes.