North Carolina recount in Supreme Court Chief Justice race starts Thursday

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The recount in a North Carolina election decided by just 400 votes starts Thursday.

Nearly half of the state's county boards of elections, including Wake County, will do their recount Thursday. The other half are expected to do their recount in the coming days, with all the recounts having to be finished by Nov. 25.

The recount comes after a request from Cheri Beasley, the current Chief Justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court. Her challenger, Paul Newby, finished the initial count with 2,695,982 votes, slightly ahead of Beasley's 2,695,576 votes.

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Beasley became the state's first African American Chief Justice when Gov. Roy Cooper appointed her in 2019. She's been on the court since 2012. Newby is the longest-serving active justice on the court, having joined in 2004.

If Newby's lead holds after the recount, he will be in charge of a court that is made up of four Democrats and three Republicans.

According to the State Board of Elections, the last state recount happened in 2016 in the race for State Auditor. That recount confirmed the original results.