Separated by two votes, Sen. Phil Berger, Sheriff Sam Page express confidence

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- Heading into Election Day, the Senate District 26 Republican primary between Senate President Phil Berger and Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page was the most-discussed legislative race in the state. A day later, it is continuing to demand attention.

Currently, Page leads Berger by two votes, as both candidates await the outcome of any incoming military votes and provisional ballots.

"There are still votes to be counted, and the outcome of this is not determined as of yet. We need to make sure that every legal vote gets counted," said Berger, who added he is "confident that the outcome will be a positive one."

Senate District 26 includes Rockingham and Guilford counties.

Elections officials in Rockingham County told ABC11 that there are 137 provisional ballots in Rockingham County, and 52 in Guilford County for the Senate District 26 race, though it is not clear what the party breakdown is. Meredith College Political Science Professor Dr. David McLennan said in the 2022 primary, there were 119 military ballots statewide.

"I'm confident. I know in Rockingham County we did extremely well, extremely well. And I think those provisional votes will go toward us," Page said.

According to unofficial results, Page won nearly 67% of the vote in Rockingham, while Berger won just under 68% of the vote in Guilford.

On Wednesday, Page held a news conference outside the Rockingham County Board of Elections, expressing concerns with the post-election day process.

"When the Board of Elections has a problem maintaining records, they're required to maintain by law the integrity of these documents. And we don't know. I have concern about voter integrity and maintaining those ballots," said Page. He was referring to a prior issue regarding how the Rockingham County Board of Elections handled his campaign finance reports, which was brought to his attention last year.

Separately, his team questioned the decision by the Rockingham County Board of Elections to close its office for part of Wednesday, believing it could have an effect on people trying to cure provisional ballots.

"We're asking them to extend the number of hours that (it was) closed, at least extend those number of hours so people can come in, have their vote counted," said Patrick Sebastian, who is working as a post-election advisor to Page.

ABC11 spoke off-camera with two staffers with the Rockingham County Board of Elections, who acknowledged the office was closed Wednesday morning, but reopened in the afternoon. They added that they had previously done this the day after the elections, and the decision to do so was made in advance. Further, there were staff on-site throughout the day, and there are no plans for any additional closures.

Page also called on State Auditor Dave Boliek to recuse himself from any role in the process, noting he had endorsed and campaigned in-person with Berger.

"That's a serious concern, and I think the state auditor needs to consider taking a step back from that position of power he has to determine whether it's really appropriate for him to be involving himself in this election, this post-election," said Sebastian, who stressed the campaign is not alleging Boliek has committed any wrongdoing.

"The State Board of Elections has issued a thorough description of the process. The State Auditor's Office has no role in that process," said Randy Breichbel, the Communications Director for the State Auditor's Office.

Separately, Jason Tyson, a spokesperson for the State Board of Elections, emphasized that an established process is in place to protect the integrity of elections.

At Page's election watch party Tuesday night, he declared victory.

"Given his personality, no, I'm not surprised (he declared victory). But given the reality of the situation, it's certainly not a comporting with what is actually happening," said Berger.

His team continues to track the electoral process.

"The reality is we have to have a complete understanding of the legal ballots that are out there to be counted and then count those ballots, see what the result is, and then we can make some determinations after that," Berger said.

The results posted on the State Board of Elections website are unofficial.

"There are always things that happen after all the precincts report on election night, so the numbers do change. Sometimes it's relatively insignificant. Sometimes it's by several dozen votes. March 13th is the key date for the Board of Elections to go through the certification process for all of the races," said McLennan.

At that point, if the margin is within 1%, Berger would be able to call for a recount.

"The certification can be delayed for an individual race," McLennan explained. "They'll file an appeal to the Board of Elections, and then ultimately they may file a legal challenge in the courts. So anything could slow down an individual race's certification."

Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App