By Peter Vankevich

The country has just learned at noon today that Democrat Joe Biden has captured the presidency of the United States.

Yesterday, the Hyde County Board of Elections released the unofficial vote tallies by precinct. A record 78% of the county’s registered voters cast ballots, up from 67% in the 2016 General Election.

Hyde County has seven voting precincts: Burgess Mill, Engelhard, Fairfield, Lake Landing, Ocracoke, Sladesville and Swan Quarter. The six precincts on the mainland voted overwhelmingly Republican and Ocracoke voted Democrat.

There will be some changes in the final official count. The Raleigh News & Observer reported this morning that North Carolina has at least 32,000 ballots still to be counted but there could be as many as 171,000, according to data from the state.

There are two reasons for the delay in a final count.

The North Carolina Board of Elections allows that as long as ballots are postmarked on or before Election Day (Nov. 3), the ballots have until Nov. 12 to arrive in the various elections offices.

Also, a state law prevents mail-in ballots arriving after the election from being counted as they come in. Instead, they must all be counted by local officials during an official post-election meeting in each county.

Some close state races may be impacted by the additional ballots. Of particular note is the race for chief justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court.  Republican challenger Paul Newby leads Democrat incumbent Cheri Beasley by about 3,700 votes.

Another close race is for N.C. attorney general. Incumbent Democrat Josh Stein leads Republican challenger Jim O’Neill by about 10,800 votes.

Locally, the Ocracoke Sanitary District which administers the water plant had an opening for a second candidate as a write-in to join Scott Bradley who was approved on the ballot along with the other board members not up for reelection.

Regina Boor O’Neal, a current board member, did not file to have her name placed on the ballot. She subsequently stated that she would continue if she wins as a write-in candidate. A total of 287 write-ins for this seat have been tallied. Write-in votes will be counted by the Board of Elections and the winner announced next week.

The Hyde County Board of Elections meets Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2020 at 6 p.m. to count write-ins and absentee ballots received after the election. Ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 have until Nov. 12 at 5 p.m. to reach the Elections Office. The board will meet on Nov. 13 to canvass the votes for submission to the state.

By way of explanation of the chart below, there are seven voting precincts: BM is Burgess Mill,  ENG (Engelhard), FF (Fairfield), LL (Lake Landing), OCK (Ocracoke), SLAD (Sladesville) and SQ (Swan Quarter). 

OS BOE refers to in-person voting at the Board of Elections Office in Swan Quarter. OS OCK refers to the votes tallied during its two days of early voting. ABS is for absentee/mail-in ballots. PROV is for provisional ballots. According to the NC Board of Elections website, a voter receives provisional ballot when questions arise about the voter’s qualification to vote, the voter’s eligibility to vote in a given election or the voter’s eligibility to vote a specific ballot style.

By Peter Vankevich

While the country awaits the results of the presidential election, here’s a look at some of the local and still unofficial voting results, and more mail-in ballots may be counted.

Out of the 3, 171 Hyde County’s registered voters, a total of of 2,484 casts ballot, a stunning and record 78%. Of Ocracoke’s 827 voters, a total of 540 ballots were cast, or 65%.

Hyde County voted solidly Republican from the presidential level on down. County-wide Trump defeated Biden 1,408 to 1,035. Only the Ocracoke precinct voted blue with Biden getting 348 to Trump’s 176.

Statewide, Gov. Roy Cooper (D) was reelected, defeating Dan Forrest (R) 2.8 million to 2.56 million. For Hyde, Forrest got 1,343 votes to Cooper’s 1,100.

NC General Assembly regional reps were reelected.

District 1 State Senator Bob Steinburg (R-Chowan) beat back challenger Democrat Tess Judge (Kitty Hawk), 57,913 to 46,862. 

District 6 House Rep Incumbent Bobby Hanig (R-Powells Point) will continue, having defeated Democrat Tommy Fulcher 30,843 to 17,071.

Both Steinburg and Hanig carried Hyde County.

In the only contested Hyde County commissioner election, Earl Pugh Jr (R-Lake Landing) won reelection beating challenger Thomas Midgette (D), 1,671 to 991.

Randal Mathews will be sworn in at the Dec. 7 Hyde County commissioners meeting to represent Ocracoke, replacing Tom Pahl who did not seek reelection. Mathews was unopposed.

Also unopposed county commissioners Ben Simmons (R-Fairfield) and Goldie Topping (D-Swan Quarter) will continue to represent their townships.

For the Ocracoke Sanitary District, which manages the water plant on Ocracoke, Scott Bradley will continue.

There was an opening for a second candidate.  Incumbent Regina O’Neal Boor did not file for reelection but indicated she would continue if selected as a write-in candidate.  There were 284 names added but the results will not be known until next week according to Elections Director Viola Williams.

For the other Hyde County sanitary districts, the unopposed incumbents will continue: Jo Ann Spencer (Engelhard) and Wayne Hodges (Swan Quarter).

Incumbents Randy Etheridge and Thomas Whitaker will continue on the Hyde Board of Education.

Chad Spencer will continue as Hyde Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.

Heading back to Washington for House District 3 will be Greg Murphy (R-Greenville), who easily beat Democrat Daryl Farrow, 227,462 to 131,011.

Republican incumbent Thom Tillis narrowly defeated Cal Cunningham, Democrat, 2.64 million to 2.54 million for the U.S. Senate. Two other candidates, Shannon W. Bray (Libertarian) received 167,968 votes and Kevin E. Hayes (Constitution Party), 66,668.

By Peter Vankevich

To catch up on Ocracoke news and much more, click here

Living up to expectations as the election of the century, national voter turnout for the General Election tomorrow (Nov. 3) is projected to be the highest percentage since 1908 and may end up being the highest of all time.

Ocracoke’s polling place at the Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Department, 822 Irvin Garrish Hwy., will be open from 6:30 a.m. to 7:30 p.m., which are the polling hours statewide.

In this election, emotions on both sides are running high.

As of Sunday afternoon, Americans have cast a record-breaking 93 million early ballots.

That’s almost twice as many pre-election votes as were cast in the 2016 election, according to the U.S. Elections Project.

In North Carolina, the North Carolina Board of Elections website today reports that when combining the early in-person votes of 3.61 million with mail in/absentee ballots of 947,421, the total number that have already voted is 4.66 million, which is 62% of the registered voters.

According to Hyde Elections Director Viola Williams, 1,232 ballots have been cast representing 38.8 percent of Hyde’s registered voters. Hyde is one of the state’s counties with the lowest percentage of early votes. In 2016, only 23.6% early votes were cast.

Of Ocracoke’s 827 registered voters, a total of 452 have returned ballots, giving this precinct 54.6% of votes already cast.

For local comparisons, Dare County has had 62.6% votes already cast, Beaufort 59.7, Carteret 65.5 and Washington 59.1

In the 2016 election, on Ocracoke Hillary Clinton beat Donald Trump two to one: 318 votes to 158. But countywide, Trump was the winner with1,275 votes to 956.

Election day weather is expected to be warmer than today, sunny and in the low 60s. The high winds of today (Monday) that suspended ferry service on Ocracoke will be much lower.

Voters are urged to show up with masks and follow the socially distance signs to diminish the spread of COVID-19.

Here are the Hyde County voting locations:

Burgess Mill: Ponzer Ruritan Building, 39911 E US Hwy 264, Belhaven

Engelhard: Engelhard Community Building, 34545 US Hwy 264

Fairfield: Mattamuskeet Opportunities, 69 Church St.

Lake Landing: St. Georges Parrish House 31655 US Hwy 264, Engelhard

Ocracoke: Ocracoke Volunteer Fire Dept., 822 Irvin Garrish Hwy.

Sladesville: Sladesville Fire Dept. Mtg Room 123 Sladesville-Credle Rd., Scranton

Swan Quarter: Swan Quarter Volunteer Fire Dept., 25 Oyster Creek Rd.