Guilford County Sets April Hearing in Senate District 26 Primary Protest

Eight Guilford County voters may have cast ballots that never included Phil Berger's name, according to a protest the state Senate leader's campaign filed after a machine recount confirmed Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page's 23-vote lead out of roughly 26,000 ballots cast in the District 26 Republican primary.

The Guilford County Board of Elections found probable cause to advance the complaint to a full evidentiary hearing, scheduled for April 6. Rockingham County's board reached the same conclusion on three separate protests filed by the Berger campaign, setting that county's hearing for March 27 at 2 p.m.

Berger's Guilford complaint alleges the eight voters received ballot styles that did not include the Senate District 26 Republican Primary race. The campaign acknowledged it could not independently confirm which ballot style each voter received without assistance from election officials, and it did not identify the voters by name in its filing.

The picture is more detailed in Rockingham, where Berger's three protests collectively involve five voters. One concerns a voter who moved and whose new registration the campaign says was incorrectly processed. A second involves a voter who sought to change her party affiliation from Democrat to Unaffiliated, a change the campaign alleges may not have been handled properly. The third protest covers three unaffiliated voters who initially requested a Democratic ballot then attempted to switch to a Republican ballot partway through voting, a move that is not permitted once voting has begun.

Machine recounts in both counties produced no change. Guilford's recount concluded Wednesday and Rockingham's finished Thursday, both confirming Page's lead. Rockingham County Board of Elections Chairman Don Powell said the recount "matched perfectly with the election day results."

Powell, who has been measured in his public comments throughout the process, addressed the protests directly. "There's a lot on the line for both of these campaigns," he said. "And, if there's legal remedies that they can pursue to make sure that they're satisfied with the vote that they got and give Guilford, Rockingham County, then I do not hold any ill will towards them for exploring those possibilities."

Page has pushed back sharply. "The best thing that Senator Berger could do right now is accept the will of the people, the vote of the people, and concede we won," Page said. His campaign went further in a written statement: "Phil Berger lost this race — and the recount confirmed it. His refusal to accept that reality is an insult to voters and a waste of taxpayer dollars. It's time for Phil Berger to concede and offer his complete and total endorsement to Sam Page."

Page also framed the dispute in fiscal terms. "I don't believe in wasting money," he told reporters. "I don't believe in wasting time. I'm conservative, and I will make sure that I'll do my part to make sure we don't waste time or money when I get to the Senate."

Berger, who as Senate leader holds significant influence over state legislation, declined to comment on the recount results, according to WRAL. The Berger campaign's earlier filings included a request focused on undervotes, meaning ballots where no vote was recorded in the Senate District 26 race, suggesting the campaign believes some valid choices may not have been counted.

Statewide certification was expected within days of the recounts concluding, adding urgency to the April 6 hearing in Guilford County. The outcome of the evidentiary process in both counties could still affect the final certified results in a race decided by fewer than one vote per thousand cast.