Candidate races in Cornelius, Pineville come down to the wire
Election officials went through the remaining mail-in and provisional ballots Thursday for races from Election Day that were too close to call.
THURSDAY NIGHT UPDATE:
Nine days after Election Day, there are unofficial results in two Mecklenburg County races that were too close to call:
Cornelius mayor and the race for a Pineville Town Council seat.
The board of elections held a pre-canvas meeting to count nearly 750 mail-in and provisional ballots.
PINEVILLE
Before Thursday night, Danielle Moore and Eric Fransen were tied for one of two remaining seats on the Pineville Town Council.
Moore picked up three votes ending the tie for the Pineville Town Council.
Moore is a newcomer to the council and says the second-place tie has been quite the nail-biter.
Fransen is currently out of the country so the board of elections officials could not reach him.
Channel 9 was told they would go ahead and do a “discretionary recount” since that race is still so close.
CORNELIUS
In Cornelius, only 13 votes separated incumbent Mayor Woody Washam and challenger Denis Bilodeau.
After Thursday night’s count, Washam won a fourth term by five votes.
Bilodeau has requested a recount.
The Mecklenburg County Board of Elections will canvas at 11 a.m. Friday to officially sign off on those ballots.
The recount will take place immediately after.
Union County
The Union County Board of Elections will also meet at 11 a.m. Friday to conduct a recount of the Monroe mayoral race where Bob Yanascek is leading by one vote.
_____
THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE:
In Union County, the pace was slow but the stakes were high Thursday afternoon.
The ballots being approved by the Union County Board of Elections could sway the Monroe mayoral election. Bob Yanascek is unofficially in the lead, by a single vote.
VIDEO:
“People that voted for me are always kind of joking it was their one vote that got me in,” he said.
SEE MORE >> ELECTION RESULTS: Voters decide future for city council, mayoral seats, and school board
He and a few others were on hand at the Board of Elections to see democracy in action. At 11 a.m. Friday, Union County’s Board of Elections will release the updated tally and Yanascek will find out if he still leads Robert Burns
“Whatever the board of elections says, I will accept,” he said.
Meanwhile in Mecklenburg County, two races are still too close to call.
In the Cornelius mayoral election, Woody Washam leads Denis Bilodeau by 13 votes.
RELATED: Monroe mayoral race leaders separated by single vote
For Pineville town council, Eric Fransen and Danielle Moore are tied.
If they’re still tied at the end of the night, the winner will be chosen by luck tomorrow.
As those more were tallied, Moore picked up two votes. Fransen did not gain any new ones. She had a two-vote lead for the final at-large spot. One provisional vote needs to be counted. Fransen can request a recount.
If they’re still tied at the end of the night, the winner will be chosen by luck on Friday.
“It comes down to one vote really matters because in Pineville we are at a dead heat,” Kristin Mavromatis with the Mecklenburg County Board of Elections said.
If there is a tie, Mecklenburg County’s Elections Chair will draw a name out of a hat at 11 a.m. Friday.
The losing candidates in all of these races still could ask for a recount.
(WATCH: 3 longtime incumbent mayors voted out of office)
