A recount of votes in the disputed 8th Congressional District further narrowed Rep. Robin Hayes' lead over challenger Larry Kissell on Tuesday, as the Democratic challenger said he would seek a manual recount in the nation's closest U.S. House election.

With machine recounts complete in all 10 of the district's counties Tuesday evening, Kissell had shaved Hayes' lead to 329 votes -- out of more than 121,000 cast -- thanks to a net gain of 13 votes in Cabarrus, Cumberland, Hoke, Montgomery, Richmond and Union counties.

Anson, Mecklenburg and Stanly counties completed their retabulation of votes from the Nov. 7 election on Monday.

John Wallace, a lawyer for the state Democratic Party and the Kissell campaign, said he filed paperwork Tuesday requesting the hand recount, which will be carried out next week in 3 percent of the district's precincts.

Under state election law, a full hand recount would be ordered if the results in the sampled precincts varied enough from the machine recount's results to potentially reverse the race's outcome if they were extrapolated to the entire district.

In Hayes' home of Cabarrus County, Kissell added 15 votes to his previously reported total, while Hayes added 13 votes -- a gain of two for the Democrat. And in Kissell's home of Montgomery County, the challenger added eight votes while Hayes lost one for a net pickup of nine votes for Kissell.

In Hoke, Hayes gained a single vote, while in Union County Kissell lost two votes and Hayes gained one -- a net gain of three for Hayes. Hayes dropped three votes in Richmond.

And in Cumberland, Hayes dropped three votes while Kissell dropped two -- a net gain of one for the challenger. In Scotland County, Kissell added four votes while Hayes picked up two -- a net gain of two for Kissell.

Wallace said the big shift in the Cabarrus vote totals demonstrated the need for recounts in a close race.

"These are good machines," he said of the optical scan machines used there. "They're just not capable of being perfect. In close elections, it requires careful attention."

Kissell, a high school teacher, ran a mostly grass-roots campaign against Hayes, an heir to the Cannon family textile fortune who is seeking a fifth term in the U.S. House representing a district that stretches from Charlotte to Fayetteville. Boosted by an activist volunteer base and strong Democratic turnout on Election Day, Kissell ran much closer to Hayes than many observers anticipated.

Hayes led by a little more than 450 votes after election night, when he first claimed victory, then saw his margin shrink by almost 120 votes late last week after hundreds of provisional ballots were counted.

Because Kissell trails by less than 1 percentage point, state law gives him the right to demand both a machine recount and a hand recount.

"I owe nothing less to the voters of this district than to fight for every vote to be counted regardless of the candidate of their choice," Kissell said.

A recount also continued Tuesday in a state Senate race in Alexander, Ashe, Watauga and Wilkes counties, where Democrat Steve Goss leads Republican David Blust by 317 votes. That recount isn't expected to be complete until Wednesday.

That's also when a statewide recount in the nonpartisan Court of Appeals race between incumbent Judge Linda Stephens and Wake County District Court Judge Donna Stroud is expected to wrap up. Stroud leads by 3,498 votes out of more than 1.5 million cast, with Stephens asking for the recount.