The presidential contest and balance of power in the Senate may depend on North Carolina voters, but results may not be finalized until next Thursday or Friday, when county-level canvass meetings are held.
"Under very few exceptions would North Carolina's numbers move before the 12th or the 13th [of November]," North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Karen Brinson Bell said at a news conference on Wednesday.
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The North Carolina State Board of Elections released the number of provisional ballots cast in each county on Thursday, as required by law. The approximately 40,000 ballots must be examined at the county level to determine if they're eligible to be counted.
"Ballots determined to be cast by eligible voters will be added to the results after county board absentee meetings scheduled through November 13," the State Board said in a statement on Thursday. "The State Board is compiling a schedule of county board meetings and will release it as soon as possible."
The State Board reported 11 counties with more than 1,000 provisional ballots, including Wake County (3,437) and Mecklenburg County (2,483).
Poll-worker Dina Grinstead assists voters at the Graham Civic Center polling location in Graham, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
North Carolina has approximately 116,000 mail-in ballots, which are separate from the provisional ballots, still outstanding.
The state board will not "prognosticate" on general election race results, State Board Chair Damon Circosta said.
"We anticipate that some of the questions that will come for us today will ask to prognosticate who will the eventual winners be," Circosta said on Wednesday. "That is not our job."
A recent decision by the U.S. Supreme Court allowed North Carolina to extend its deadline for election officials to receive ballots.
A voter waits to cast a ballot at the Graham Civic Center polling location in Graham, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo/Gerry Broome)
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President Trump holds a slight lead over Democratic nominee Joe Biden in the state, and Republican Sen. Thom Tillis leads Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham by approximately 96,000 votes.
Fox News' Sam Dorman contributed to this report.
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