After the State Board of Elections conducted the statewide canvass Wednesday, nearly all primary election results are official.
That may not be the case in Yancey County, where there is at least one pending election protest that may be considered by the state elections board.
Each election cycle, candidates who lose close races have a few options. If the margins are small enough, they can call for a recount.
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In this primary, there were recount requests in four races: the Republican Cleveland County education board contest, the at-large Forsyth County education board contest, the Orange County second district commissioner’s contest and the Republican State Senate District 26 contest.
The vote margin did not change in three of the recounts, while fourth-place candidate Aaron Bridges went from a 48-vote loss to a 45-vote victory against Shelia Canipe for the final spot in the Cleveland County education board general election.
Candidates’ other option is to file an election protest. Protests may allege issues with ballot counting, results tabulation or other election law violations, misconduct or irregularities.
Protests were filed in four primaries. All but one have effectively been resolved at the county level.
Yancey County protest
Not one, but two of the losing candidates in the Republican primary for Yancey County Commissioner filed election protests alleging a laundry list of issues.
Three of five candidates will move forward to the general election in the race. David Grindstaff, Stacey Greene and Sandi Norton placed in the top three in the primary, with Randy Buckner in fourth and Jason Silvers in fifth.
The three winners are currently on the board of commissioners.
Buckner finished within 73 votes of Norton, receiving 1,020 votes, while Silvers got 630 votes.
Buckner and Silvers filed protests. There was significant overlap in their allegations.
Both alleged that illegal sample ballots were distributed to voters at the polls, through social media posts and through text messages sent by the county Republican Party. They said these sample ballots were filled out with recommended Republican candidates that did not include Buckner or Silvers. They alleged that the ballots did not include a disclaimer that the ballots were not official or produced by the elections board.
Both also mentioned a series of photos of Grindstaff, Greene and Norton inside the county commissioners office beneath the county seal that were used in campaign materials and social media posts.
In his protest, Buckner argued that the imagery made it appear like Yancey County government supported the candidates.
Additionally, Buckner pointed out that the Yancey County Local Government Facebook page got increasingly active in the months before the election, compared to the year prior. To him, it seemed like Commissioner Chairman Jeff Whitson “subtly promoted the sitting commissioners and their accomplishments” from the official government page during the election.
Silvers alleged that there were attempts to obtain confidential information from his court records or his Department of Social Services’ file during the election to dissuade voters from voting for him.
Buckner said lies were spread about him. He alleged that someone spread rumors that Buckner had “turned them in” to the Yancey County Building Inspection Office. Buckner is a contractor, and said he did not turn anyone in, and that unlicensed contracting would be reported to a different entity, the North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors, anyways.
Buckner’s protest was dismissed by the county board with the board’s three Republicans voting to dismiss, one vote to uphold and one vote abstention. He plans to appeal the decision, and said he didn’t feel like he got a “fair hearing.”
Silvers said the county board already referred his protest to the state board for a hearing.
The county board has not yet disseminated their written decisions in these protests, according to Director Mary Beth Tipton. Once they do, candidates will have 24 hours to file an appeal with the State Board of Elections.
Other election protests
To Paul Latorre, a nonpartisan school board election requires nonpartisan behavior.
After finishing nearly 500 votes behind Jennifer Lavrack in his bid for the Granville Board of Education District 6 seat, Latorre filed an election protest alleging Lavrack’s “failure to maintain a nonpartisan environment.”
For example, Latorre mentioned an event hosted by the Granville County Republican Party that Lavrack attended with current school board member Danielle Hayes. Latorre was not invited.
Lavrack and Hayes are registered Republicans; Latorre is a registered unaffiliated voter.
“It would have been a close race, if we both would have ran nonpartisan, true nonpartisan,” Latorre said.
While North Carolina law requires that nonpartisan races do not include candidates’ parties on the ballot, nothing technically stops candidates from sharing their political affiliation or accepting support from a particular party.
In a statement, Lavrack said First Amendment rights belong to everyone, including nonpartisan candidates.
“My motives are not nor will they ever be politically motivated, they are to work for the good of the community, residents of Granville County, and most importantly the students in our schools,” she said.
The county board dismissed the protest on March 11 in a preliminary hearing, saying it had “no merit or standing,” according to local reporting.
According to Granville County election staff, the county board’s written decision was disseminated to all parties, and no appeals were filed.
Latorre plans to run for the office again in 2030, he said.
Vance County Sheriff candidate Sterlin Walker Jr. also had his protest dismissed in early March after the county board decided the alleged issues were outside its scope.
In his protest, Walker said the eventual primary winner, Sheriff Curtis Brame, put up election signs that resembled highway signs. He also alleged that Vance County deputies were seen using county vehicles to put up campaign signs for Brame, among other issues.
While he asked for a new election, the county board dismissed the protest. Walker did not appear to appeal the decision to the state elections board.
Finally, Republican Senate President Pro Tempore Phil Berger filed a series of protests involving 13 voters in his race against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page. They never were heard, though, as Berger conceded the race after two recounts, and before the scheduled protest hearings.
Editor’s note: This article was updated on March 29, 2026, to include additional information that became available.
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