The Watauga County Board of Elections voted to certify the results of the 2024 elections Friday. 

The vote totals approved by the board are official but members of the board signed a document that read “unofficial” because of a computer error which kept votes from being finalized.

“Whatever issue the system has only relates to digital records,” said Watauga County Director of Elections Matthew Snyder. “It’s not going to affect the actual vote count.” 

The board certified results after voting to remove certain ballots in the county. The board removed four ballots from voters who died before Election Day. 

Snyder said voters who vote early must be alive on Election Day for their vote to count in the official canvass. 

The Board of Elections also removed two voters for different reasons from vote totals in their previous meeting on Nov. 14. 

The results certified by the board did not include the six voters removed. 

Snyder said the North Carolina State Board of Elections asked to prepare for a potential recount next week in the race for the North Carolina Supreme Court and the Watauga County Board of Education.

“I believe both are currently within the range of being eligible for recounts,” Snyder said. 

According to North Carolina law, a candidate for a countywide race can request a recount if the difference between votes cast in a race is less than 1%. For a statewide race, the difference must be less than 0.5% or 10,000 votes. 

As of 11 p.m. Nov. 15 the difference in votes cast between Adam Hege and Marshall Ashcraft, is 0.23% for the Watauga County Board of Education with Hege in the lead.

In the race for North Carolina Supreme Court Associate Justice Seat 6, there is a 106 vote difference between Allison Riggs and Jefferson Griffin with Riggs in the lead as of Nov. 15 at 11 p.m.

Snyder said a recount means county election officials will put all ballots through tabulator machines and update totals based on information during the recount period. 

“After that, it’s up to the state, we’re done with our part,” Snyder said. “Once we finish

with the recount then it becomes a state issue.” 

At the end of the county canvass, Snyder thanked those involved in the election process throughout Watauga County. 

“All things considered we had very few issues, I appreciate the politeness, kindness and understanding of the voters and of our election officials,” Snyder said. “Everybody’s had a rough few months and I’m very happy to hear that we had no incidents of people being really ugly.”