Craven vote totals become official
November 10,2004
Sue Book
New Bern Sun Journal Staff

Craven County's 2004 election results are now official, certified and submitted to the North Carolina Board of Elections.

The board spent six hours Tuesday certifying the vote, adding 646 provisional ballots that brought the total votes cast to 38,238 but changed no local outcomes.

Democrat Leon Staton was officially re-elected to the District 5 seat on the Craven County Board of Commissioners, getting 1,067 votes to Republican Anthony Michalek's 944.

Michalek, who was present for the canvass, filed an official protest Sunday, citing a question vote count that initially showed he had won as well as what he called questionable campaign activities of his opponent.

However, at the end of the canvass Tuesday, Michalek had a different tone.

"As far as I'm concerned, that's it with the numbers. I'm OK with the vote. Mr. Staton is the winner and has my congratulations," he said.

Still, the board of elections has scheduled a hearing for 1 p.m. Monday to determine whether there is probable cause for an official hearing on the other parts of Michalek's protest, which include allegations of campaign irregularities.

"This was the most competitive campaign to date as my opponent turned out to be quite worthy," Staton said in a statement, thanking his constituents for turning out to vote.

Tiffiney Miller, elections director, called it the most difficult of her four presidential elections, especially considering former director Kathleen Orringer was buried on Election Day.

"It's been exactly a week to the day and I think it's been one of the toughest elections I've ever experienced," she said. "We had a lot of changes from the state and the Help America Vote Act. Then, with the loss of Mrs. Orringer at the same time, and the machine problems, then the software, all that rolled in."

Problems with Electronic Systems and Software Inc. voting machines surfaced in one-stop early voting, requiring all screens to be replaced. An election night Unity software glitch caused a double count of votes from nine precincts as absentee balloting totals were added, giving Michalek a victory in District 5 until the Sun Journal discovered the double votes the day after the election.

The absence of a password for Vanceboro's one-stop master terminal resulted in an early miscount there as well.

The HAVA widened guidelines for provisional ballots, directing elections workers to take a ballot from everyone who wanted to vote and leaving officials to work out the voter's eligibility later.

"We have researched them all to make sure that person is eligible to vote in Craven County and are registered here," Miller told the board of elections.

Board of elections members Gloria Stanley, Bob McDonald and Walter Leake on Tuesday tediously worked through provisional ballots, including some that had not been signed and were rejected.

With 63.6 percent voter turnout, it made for a long day for elections officials.

"We're happy because it means people are going to the polls and doing their civic duty," said Stanley, a Democrat. "I feel great because we've done what we were supposed to do - by law and morally."

Leake, a Republican, had promised after problems had surfaced the day after the election that official totals would match the poll books.

"I think everything is on the up and up. As far as the count, I'm satisfied," said Leake.

"Anytime there are people and machines, there is the possibility of some errors. At least we're not Carteret County," he said, referring to 4,530 lost votes because of electronic voting machine problems.

Miller said Tuesday the problems in Craven would be fixed.

"We will not have those problems again," she said.

She said she has no reservations about the accuracy of the totals certified Tuesday.

"Every figure that was given (Tuesday) was official and has been certified by the county board," she said. "Unless there is a problem at the state, the county is satisfied."