CHARLOTTE, N.C. — After a record turnout and dizzying election night, Mecklenburg County election officials are tallying votes and working through thousands of absentee ballot totals.
Early Wednesday, elections officials told WCNC Charlotte they were starting an audit and going through a list of those who voted at each and every precinct in the county. Officials want to make sure the number of how many people checked in matches how many votes were cast on Election Day. Election officials will also check signatures and paperwork on ballots to make sure they are accurate.
Mecklenburg County has until November 12 to total up the votes and sort through more than 2,000 provisional ballots that were cast on Election Day. Officials said they usually see 4,000 to 5,000 provisional ballots, meaning it should take less time to go through the smaller count this year.
However, there are thousands of absentee ballots to total up this year. Mecklenburg County officials said they've been receiving about 2,000 absentee ballots per day for the last several days and they are still expecting anywhere from 6,000 to 8,000 to come in by the deadline.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections reported 117,000 outstanding absentee ballots Wednesday. It's still unclear how many of those ballots will be counted, as voters who requested a ballot also had the option to vote in person on Election Day.
As for updated vote totals, county election officials don't expect to post any new numbers until November 13, when county elections boards meet to certify results. The state doesn't expect the have official results verified until November 24.