Buncombe County -- November 9, 2026: In an essential check on the integrity of local ballots, Buncombe County Election Services has completed its official post-election sample audit, successfully matching hand-counted paper ballots against automated machine tabulations under public observation.
The audit targeted two precincts chosen at random by the North Carolina State Board of Elections: Precinct 42.1 at Emma Elementary School and Precinct 28.1 at Covenant Reformed Presbyterian. Bipartisan teams, working under the oversight of the County Board of Elections, spent hours meticulously hand-counting every paper ballot cast in the U.S. Senate contest across both precincts.
Catching the Details: How Ballots Are Checked
Mandated by state law, the sample audit acts as a quality-control verification for machine-tabulated paper ballots. Election officials frequently compare the optical-scan ballots to standardized bubble tests. Discrepancies between human intent and machine scanners rarely stem from technological failure; instead, they typically occur when voters mark ballots unconventionally—such as circling a preferred candidate’s name or marking an "X" rather than fully filling in the oval. By manually tallying the votes in bipartisan pairs, officials ensure that voter intent is accurately interpreted and recorded.
"The sample audit is one of many audits that take place during the canvass period to ensure that the vote count is accurate," said Buncombe County Elections Director Corinne Duncan. "We look forward to certifying official results this Friday."
The Critical 10-Day Canvass Window
While national attention often treats election night as the definitive final word, state election law treats election night totals as preliminary and strictly unofficial. The sample audit represents just one component of North Carolina’s required 10-day canvass period.
During this statutory window, election staff across the state complete multi-tiered verification steps: counting outstanding eligible provisional ballots, processing validated absentee ballots received by statutory deadlines, reconciling voter rolls, and executing system audits. The canvass period ensures that every legally cast vote is accounted for and verified before any outcome is certified as final.
Public Certification Meeting Scheduled for Friday
The canvass process will culminate on Friday, Nov. 13 at 11 a.m., when the Buncombe County Board of Elections convenes its formal canvass meeting to officially certify the county's election results.
In keeping with North Carolina’s open-meetings law, the certification session is open to the public. Community members wishing to observe the proceedings remotely at watch the meeting live