An NC mayoral race was decided by just one vote. Now, it’s getting a do-over
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- State Board orders new Morehead City mayoral election after voter-ID exclusions.
- Incumbent Jerry Jones filed protest saying two eligible voters were denied ballots.
- Board debated allowing remedial ballots; two votes could flip the one-vote result.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections on Wednesday ordered that a new election be conducted in a razor-thin mayoral race after potential issues were identified with eligible voters being turned away at the polls.
In Morehead City, which is located along the coast in Carteret County, Councilman Lee Anthony Stiles won the mayoral race by just one vote in November, beating out incumbent Mayor Jerry Jones Jr., who has held the office for over 25 years.
But Jones quickly filed an election protest, saying he had identified two eligible voters who were turned away from their polling sites for voter ID issues without being offered a provisional ballot.
North Carolina’s voter ID law requires that all voters be offered a provisional ballot if they show up to the polls without an ID. Election officials research provisional ballots after polls close and add them to the count upon confirming the voter’s eligibility.
The Carteret County Board of Elections found that the voters at issue provided substantial evidence of an irregularity and referred the matter to the State Board of Elections, which heard arguments in the case on Wednesday.
Board declines to allow voters to cast ballots now
Attorneys for Jones requested that the board allow the two voters in question to cast remedial ballots now, likely flipping the election’s outcome — given that each had testified that they would’ve voted for Jones.
Stacy “Four” Eggers, a Republican member of the State Board of Elections, said he was not aware of the state ever ordering a remedy such as that.
Hart Miles, an attorney for Stiles, said the requested remedy would set a “dangerous new precedent.”
“Given that we have absolutely no idea how many people were wrongly turned away, we submit to this board that awarding this election to Mr. Jones would be tremendously unfair,” Miles said.
Jones’ attorneys said that, if the board did not agree to allow the two voters to cast remedial ballots, they would support ordering a new election.
Stiles himself spoke at Wednesday’s hearing, saying while he would ultimately prefer the board to dismiss the protest, he also supported ordering a new election.
“I don’t mind going out and beating Mr. Jones again,” he said.
The board voted unanimously to order the new election, an extraordinary step that has not been taken since 2022, when alleged poll worker issues upended a local race in Surry County.
The new mayoral race will be held on the same date as North Carolina’s primary election, which is March 3, 2026.
Eggers said he hoped the case would emphasize the importance of teaching poll workers to offer provisional ballots.
“For anyone who thinks that a single vote does not matter, this case stands for the proposition that a single vote absolutely is important,” he said.
