Carteret canvass doesn't change outcome of any races

BEAUFORT -- The Carteret County Board of Election completed its vote canvass Tuesday without a change in local results for the May primary.

The board approved the results of all primary elections conducted in the county last week, including the nonpartisan Board of Education race and the Democratic primary for the District 5 seat on the county Board of Commissioners.

Before the results were made official, the board reviewed 167 provisional ballots cast, fully approving 87 of the ballots and partially approving 25 of the ballots, said Sharon Lewis of the elections office staff.

In the case of partially approved ballots, the voters cast ballots in primaries they should not have voted in. Their votes were counted in the nonpartisan races but were not allowed in partisan races, Lewis said.

The provisional votes added votes in each of the local races but didn't change the outcome.

In the race for the District 5 Board of Commissioner seat Deborah Van Dyken garnered 1,146 votes and challenger Dean Graham received 490 votes.

In the Board of Education race, two incumbents and a newcomer join the board.

Incumbent Al Hill took the District 2 seat with 8,774 votes. His challenger, Mark Lietz followed with 3,775 votes. David Carr keeps the District 4 seat with 8,095 votes, with his challenger, Larry Land, taking 4,937 votes.

Unopposed newcomer Shelley Meyer Sylivant finished with 10,694 votes.

There were also a number of write-in votes recorded in the Board of Education race, with 86 cast for the District 2 seat, 141 cast for the District 3 seat and 85 write-in votes for the District 4 seat.

Write-in votes must be accounted for if an individual receives 5 or more votes. A write-in candidate by the name of James Moore received six votes for the District 2 seat and 40 votes for the District 4 seat. Other write-in votes are noted as miscellaneous.