Free Republic

The 2004 election cycle was the first time in North Carolina history that State election officials counted out-of-precinct provisional ballots," Wainwright wrote. "To permit unlawful votes to be counted along with lawful ballots in contested elections effectively `disenfranchises' those voters who cast legal ballots." The decision also cited numerous state statutes and election regulations specifically requiring voters to cast their ballots only in the precincts where they reside. Election officials are also instructed by law and regulations to assist voters in casting legal ballots. "It is indeed unfortunate that the statutorily unauthorized actions of the State Board of Elections denied...

RALEIGH, N.C. -- Democrat Britt Cobb conceded the election of state agriculture commissioner Friday morning just as the State Board of Elections was starting a meeting to try to resolve the lingering election. The move makes Republican Steve Troxler the new agriculture commissioner.

Last updated: January 15. 2005 12:02PM The state's second-most-powerful Democrat says fellow party member Britt Cobb should concede defeat in the still unresolved race for agriculture commissioner. "I personally believe that the people have already settled it - that they voted for (Steve) Troxler and he should be commissioner," Senate president pro tem Marc Basnight told the Winston-Salem Journal. Cobb trails Troxler, a Republican, by 2,287 votes out of more than 3.3 million cast. But because a voting machine error in Carteret County resulted in 4,438 ballots being lost, the State Board of Elections has twice ordered new elections. Both...

Raleigh – Senate Republican Leader Phil Berger has criticized as “purely partisan” and “political gamesmanship” a decision by the State Board of Elections to hold a new statewide election for Commissioner of Agriculture. “While I’m confident Steve Troxler would prevail in a special election,” Berger said, “a new statewide election will be expensive and is unlikely to draw as much attention as the November race. The three and a half million North Carolinians who voted in the Commissioner of Agriculture race in November deserve to have their votes counted. North Carolina elected a new Agriculture Commissioner who should be allowed...

A few cases do not an epidemic make. But they’re unprecedented; worry over what’s next is contagious At first, the anthrax scares popping up everywhere could be dismissed as the products of overactive imaginations. In Florida, where residents were already spooked by reports that last month’s skyjackers had inquired about renting crop-dusters, authorities had received more than 100 calls about suspicious powders over the past few weeks; they all turned out to be innocuous substances such as plaster dust. IN TRENTON, N.J., two office buildings were evacuated early last week after employees reported opening packages containing a white powder. Tests ...