The North Carolina state Capitol is photographed in Raleigh, North Carolina. (LOGAN CYRUS/AFP via Getty Images)
Wray challenges what happened with more than a dozen voters, several of whom received a ballot for the wrong primary, the protests say. He also alleges that a Democratic poll observer at a Halifax County precinct instructed voters to choose Pierce, violating laws against electioneering and coercion.
"We are not challenging any votes that were cast and counted. We are simply asking the county boards to ensure that they did not improperly reject any ballots," Wray said in a news release. "We simply want to ensure that all valid ballots are counted."
The boards in each county within the 27th District will meet to determine whether to dismiss each protest or call for a hearing in which evidence is received. The Warren and Halifax boards planned meetings for Tuesday to consider Wray's protest.
The current vote margin between Pierce and Wray also would allow Wray to seek a recount — a decision that Wray said Friday would wait until race results are certified.
The protests were filed on the same day elections board in all 100 counties were scheduled to complete the final tabulations of ballot choices from the March 5 primaries. The Warren board delayed the completion of its canvass given the protest, elections director Debbie Formyduval said.
Leading up to Friday's canvass, the county board examined details related to more than 11,000 provisional absentee or in-person ballots to determine whether they would be added to the initial counts. The State Board of Elections canvass is March 26.
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Separate from Wray's potential defeat, three other General Assembly incumbents lost their primary elections: Democratic Sen. Mike Woodard of Durham County and Republican Reps. George Cleveland of Onslow County and Kevin Crutchfield of Cabarrus County.
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https://www.foxnews.com/politics/longtime-democratic-lawmaker-challenges-north-carolina-primary-result