McCrory To Withdraw Statewide Recount Demand If Durham County Recount Produces No Change In Result

The Raleigh News & Observer reports:

Gov. Pat McCrory is ready to withdraw his request for a statewide recount if a new hand count of Durham County votes produces the same results as Election Day, his campaign announced Saturday evening.

The governor is asking the N.C. State Board of Elections to hold an expedited hearing on an appeal of the Durham County election board’s denial of a request for a recount there. The state board on Saturday called for a Sunday afternoon meeting by phone to discuss this matter and a federal lawsuit challenging same-day registration ballots.

“If a Durham recount provides the same results as earlier posted, the McCrory Committee will be prepared to withdraw its statewide recount request in the Governors race,” the campaign’s news release says.

McCrory has been trailing Attorney General Roy Cooper by about 7,700 votes as counties around the state finalize their counts with provisional and absentee ballots. McCrory, in order to meet a deadline last week, gave notice that he would request a statewide recount. He is permitted to demand a recount as long as the margin between he and Cooper remains less than 10,000 votes.

Durham has been at the center of allegations of voter improprieties, mostly promulgated by Republican officials and the McCrory campaign, in complaints filed in about half of the counties. The first county election boards to review those complaints, however, have not found significant abuses. In addition to the computer glitches, the eligibility of a number of votes has also been contested, such as accusing voters of being felons, voting in two states or that ballots were cast be dead people.