EXPLAINER: Why AP called North Carolina for Trump

WHY AP CALLED NORTH CAROLINA FOR TRUMP

November 14, 2020, 11:37 AM
by AP/UNB

UNB News
Publish- November 14, 2020, 11:37 AM
AP/UNB

EXPLAINER: Why AP called North Carolina for Trump

Polling workers assist voters on a brisk fall morning at the Efland Ruritan Club polling site in Efland, N.C., Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020. (AP Photo)

The Associated Press declared Donald Trump the winner in North Carolina on Friday after concluding there were not enough ballots left to be counted that would allow Joe Biden to overtake his lead.

Friday was the deadline for counties in North Carolina to certify their results. Following updates from most counties in the state, Trump was leading by about 73,690 votes, or 1.3 percentage points.

The AP on Saturday declared Biden had won the presidency. But a few individual contests, including North Carolina, remained too early to call.

Now that Trump has been declared the winner in North Carolina the only state yet to be called is Georgia, which is conducting a hand tally of the presidential race there. That’s because state law requires that one race be audited by hand to check that the machines counted the ballots accurately, and the secretary of state chose the presidential race because of its tight margin.

North Carolina took a long time to call because the race was close and ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 could be counted until Thursday.