A week after Wake elections, the Fuquay-Varina race remains undeclared, Cary gets winner
The results for two Wake County towns have been called a week after Election Day.
Friday morning, the Wake County Board of Elections met a second time to review and verify the results of the Nov. 7 election in Wake County.
The review also included the counting of hundreds of remaining absentee and provisional ballots left over in the District D race in Cary and for the unexpired seat in Fuquay-Varina.
Both races were too close to call on Nov. 7 with extremely close margins.
On Friday, the county Board of Elections only certified the Wake County races and said there would be a recount on Monday afternoon for the race between Elizabeth Parent and Jason Wunsch for Fuquay-Varina’s unexpired seat on the Board of Commissioners. The seat is a two-year position.
On Nov. 7, Wunsch narrowly led Parent by 28 votes. The unofficial results showed Wunsch with 2,886 votes and Parent with 2,858 votes.
After the count of the ballots by the county Board of Elections, the gap closed to a difference of 8 votes, or 0.14%, with Wunsch at 2,906 votes and Parent at 2,898. Still, because the margin is under 1% state law calls for an automatic recount of votes.
In a phone intervew, Wunsch told The News & Observer that it had been a “long 10 days.”
“I think this election demonstrates how important it is to exercise your right to vote,” he said. “Every vote counts. ... I have to imagine this is one of the closest races in Fuquay-Varina history.”
Wunsch is hoping the win will hold up Monday during the recount and if so, he looks forward to “working for Fuquay-Varina and serving everyone and making traffic migration, and infrastructure a top priority for the town as we experience tremendous growth.”
On Facebook, Parent said she attended the county Board of Elections’ first canvass meeting on Thursday where the board spent hours reviewing and counting remaining ballots to “ensure every vote is counted.”
“Provisional & absentee ballot data was released (Nov. 10). I spent my weekend digging into the data to ensure each voter is being contacted and adequately educated on their options to ensure the ballot they cast is counted,” she wrote. “I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, my rights are incredibly important to me, voting being one of the most important.”
Parent called for a recount of the ballots.
State Board of Elections to approve Cary race
The race between Sarika Bansal and Rachel Jordan seems to have a winner but the state needs to approve the results because the race included two counties: Wake and Chatham.
Cary’s District D voters are in both Wake and Chatham counties. Both counties have to count their votes and combine them for the race’s final result.
The State Board of Elections will meet on Nov. 28 to certify the results of all municipal elections on Nov. 7.
Bansal took to Facebook Friday afternoon to celebrate the unofficial election results saying “we made history in Cary, together.”
She is the first Indian American person to serve on the Cary Town Council.
“I am honored to be the elected representative for District D,” Bansal said. “I promise to work for the residents of District D with full commitment and grit. For the ones on the fence, I will work very hard to win your trust and support.”
On Oct. 10, Cary’s Election Day, Bansal edged out Jordan for the Cary Town Council District D seat by 67 votes.
However, the difference was not great enough to count as a victory since the state law requires the winner to have 50% of the vote. Jordan had the opportunity to call for a runoff, which took place on Nov. 7.
Unofficial results showed Bansal leading Jordan with 2,746 votes and Jordan with 2,679 votes. The gap was closed to 60 votes after meetings by the Chatham and Wake County boards of election.
