The State Board of Elections in North Carolina has recently verified the results of the 2025 municipal elections, as reported on the official State Board website. The board, in a unanimous decision yesterday, certified the outcomes of most of the elections, save for two controversial races in Harrellsville that are currently under scrutiny.
Earlier this year, three counties held municipal partisan primaries on September 9, seeing over 42,000 voters out of an eligible 530,000 participate, marking an 8% turnout. Then, 18 counties hosted municipal elections and nonpartisan primaries on October 7, with 78,000 voters casting ballots — about 12% of the potential 650,000. However, the bulk of activity took place on November 4, when municipal elections occurred across 447 municipalities in 88 counties, with more than 701,258 ballots cast, reaching a turnout of nearly 19.8% of the roughly 3.5 million eligible voters.
Following standard election protocol, the county boards of elections initially certified the results at a local level, preceding the State Board's statewide authentication. The recent verification by State Board was made possible after these steps and a comprehensive series of post-election audits that supported the accuracy of the machine-tabulated results.
"These municipal elections were carried out smoothly and successfully across North Carolina," Sam Hayes, the Executive Director, stated in a press release from the State Board of Elections. Hayes commended the concerted efforts of county boards, precinct officials, and State Board staff who worked to provide a secure and reliable voting experience. Their commitment is instrumental, he believes in upholding the integrity of the election process.
As part of the thorough post-election review, audits are conducted with the aim to confirm the election outcomes and to detect any instances of fraud or irregularities that could influence the results. The recent audit report has validated the performance of the voting machines. "The results of these audits reaffirm what we see year after year: North Carolina’s certified voting systems count ballots with a high level of accuracy," Hayes asserted. According to him, the voters can trust that the voting machines functioned correctly and that the final certified results genuinely reflect the will of the people, as per the State Board of Elections.
While the broad authentication of the results marks a step towards finalizing the 2025 municipal elections, the inquiry into the Harrellsville mayoral and town council races continues, as the Hertford County Board of Elections has been requested to present further information regarding their findings before those particular contests can be certified.
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