Bladen County elections board dismisses protest, waits on 'guidance' from state

ELIZABETHTOWN, NC (WECT) - The Bladen County Board of Elections continues to wait on guidance from the state board before setting a date and time to canvass the results from the General Election.

In a meeting Tuesday, the board dismissed a protest filed by Ken Register, Junior.

According to board member Brian Hehl, the board cannot set a date to canvass votes until it hears from the North Carolina State Board of Elections.

The state board has jurisdiction over absentee ballots while investigating a protest filed by McCrae Dowless, the victorious candidate in the Bladen County Soil and Water Conservation District Supervisor.

Without access to the ballots, Hehl says the county board cannot tally the write-ins to complete the canvass.

The State Board of Elections has a meeting scheduled for Wednesday in Raleigh. The Bladen County protest is not currently listed on the agenda items.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Bladen County is one of seven counties reporting unofficial results from the election, according to the NCSBOE website. The others include Cleveland, Craven, Forsyth, Graham, Lenoir and Person counties.

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