23 Votes. 222 Uncounted Ballots. Berger Wants a Hand Recount in North Carolina
A 23-vote margin and 222 uncounted ballots put North Carolina Republicans back in recount mode.
North Carolina Republicans just got a reminder that election administration matters down to the last ballot. Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger is asking for a hand-to-eye recount in the Republican primary for Senate District 26 after trailing Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page by just 23 votes. And here is the part that jumps off the page: Berger says 222 ballots were flagged as overvotes or undervotes and never counted by the machines in that contest.
In a race separated by 23 votes, 222 questionable ballots is not background noise. That is the whole story.
Why Berger Is Pushing for a Hand Recount
According to The Center Square, Berger and Page were separated by only two votes on primary election night. After canvass, the margin widened to 23. A machine recount did not change the outcome in any meaningful way, leaving Page ahead 13,135 to 13,112.
That would normally be the end of it. Berger says not so fast.
In his letter to the North Carolina State Board of Elections, Berger argued that the machines did not count 222 ballots labeled as overvotes or undervotes. His point was simple: if even a small number of those ballots contained discernible votes that machines missed, the result could change.
“In such a close election, we must be certain that every lawful vote is counted,” Berger wrote, according to The Center Square.
That is not radical. That is the job.
What Overvotes and Undervotes Actually Mean
An overvote happens when a ballot records too many selections in a race. An undervote happens when it records fewer than allowed. North Carolina election officials describe those categories as part of the normal vote-counting process. But in a razor-thin race, the obvious question is whether any ballots were marked in a way that a machine could not cleanly interpret, even though a human reviewer might.
And that is where Berger's request gets serious.
He is not merely asking for another pass through the same machines. He wants a hand-to-eye review, at minimum for the ballots categorized as overvotes or undervotes, and preferably for all ballots in the contest. Because of course if the whole dispute is whether a machine missed voter intent, running the same ballots through machinery again is not exactly a thrilling answer.
The Numbers That Matter
Here is the core math from the contest:
Sam Page: 13,135 votes
Phil Berger: 13,112 votes
Margin: 23 votes
Ballots flagged as overvotes or undervotes: 222
You do not need a political science degree to see why Berger is fighting this.
Those 222 ballots are nearly ten times the margin. If just a fraction contain valid votes that were not recognized in the machine tally, the race could flip. Maybe they do. Maybe they do not. That is exactly why a hand review exists.
There Is More Than One Dispute Here
The recount request is only part of the picture. Berger has also filed election protests tied to what he says were administrative errors in Guilford and Rockingham counties.
According to The Center Square's reporting, Berger argues:
Eight registered voters in Guilford County should have been eligible to vote in the District 26 primary but were blocked by a ballot-style error
One voter had a residency change issue involving Guilford and Rockingham counties
Another case involved a party affiliation change from Democrat to unaffiliated
Three unaffiliated voters reportedly requested Democratic ballots, then switched to Republican ballots that were counted as provisional
That is a lot of sloppiness for a contest this close.
And if you are a voter in North Carolina, this is the part that should get your attention. Election integrity is not just about headline-grabbing fraud cases. It is also about boring administrative competence. Ballot styles. Voter records. Party affiliation handling. Provisionals. The unglamorous stuff is where trust is either built or wrecked.
Why This Matters Beyond One Senate Race
This is not some backbench local squabble. Berger has been one of the most powerful Republicans in North Carolina politics for years. A challenge to his seat already makes this race notable. A challenge decided by 23 votes, with 222 uncounted ballots in the mix, makes it a statewide warning flare.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections says a sample hand recount can be used to determine whether discrepancies are significant enough to require a full hand recount. Fair enough. Run the sample. Follow the rules. Count every lawful vote.
That should not be controversial. The only people nervous about verification are usually the people who prefer slogans to scrutiny.
What Comes Next
Under state procedure cited by election officials, a sample hand-to-eye recount can trigger a broader recount if discrepancies justify it. Berger is asking election officials to take a hard look now, not after everyone has moved on and pretended the process was close enough.
Good.
Close elections do not need less transparency. They need more. If the machines got it right, a hand review can confirm it. If they missed voter intent on enough ballots to matter, voters deserve to know that too.
North Carolina Republicans do not need spin. They need confidence that the count was accurate. In a 23-vote race with 222 uncounted ballots sitting in the shadows, confidence is earned the old-fashioned way. By counting.
Further Reading
The Center Square: Hand recount request submitted by Berger
North Carolina State Board of Elections: Election Results Dashboard and recount procedures