Berger Requests Hand Recount as Page’s 23-Vote Lead Holds in NC Senate District 26

The request triggers a limited manual review that can expand only if the sample suggests the outcome would flip.

Overview

After machine recounts in Guilford and Rockingham produced no net change, Phil Berger on Friday asked for a sample hand-to-eye recount in his GOP primary against Sam Page.
The State Board says the 3% sample will be chosen at random and begin within two business days, with a full hand count ordered only if extrapolated discrepancies would reverse the result.
Official totals stand at Page 13,135 and Berger 13,112, leaving a 23-vote margin out of roughly 26,000 ballots cast.
Berger has filed protests concerning 13 voters, with hearings set for March 27 in Rockingham County and April 6 in Guilford County, and state certification will wait until county processes conclude.
The State Board on Wednesday rejected Berger’s separate request to examine 220 overvote and undervote ballots outside the standard process, as Page’s campaign urged him to concede.