NC Senate leader Phil Berger asks for new recount in contested primary
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Berger requested partial hand recount after a machine recount confirmed a 23‑vote deficit
- Officials will hand‑count a random sample of 3% of precincts and early voting sites
- If significant discrepancies are found, a full hand recount can be ordered
Following a full machine recount that confirmed his 23-vote deficit against Rockingham County Sheriff Sam Page, North Carolina Senate leader Phil Berger requested a partial hand recount of his Republican primary election on Friday.
Per state law, election officials will now randomly select 3% of precincts and early voting sites and recount the ballots by hand. If those results show significant discrepancies with the original count — which is historically unlikely — then a full hand-to-eye recount of the entire district can be ordered.
However, in his letter to the State Board of Elections on Friday, Berger asked that the board order a full hand recount regardless of the results of the partial recount.
Defending this request, he reiterated an argument the board has already declined to act on once. Berger notes that roughly 220 voters were recorded as either “undervotes,” those who did not mark a preference in the race, or “overvotes,” those who improperly marked more than one preference.
He contends that the voting machines could have incorrectly read the voters’ choices, and therefore they should be inspected by hand.
“Review by hand not only eliminates the potential of a machine error, but such review is also imperative to ensure these ballots are treated uniformly in this contest,” he wrote.
Page’s campaign blasted the request, saying he sought to bypass state law.
“Phil Berger is once again asking for special treatment and trying to change the rules after he lost,” Patrick Sebastian, an adviser to Page’s campaign, said. “North Carolina law is clear — and it applies to everyone. Senator Berger doesn’t get to rewrite it because he doesn’t like the outcome.”
In a statement, a spokesperson for the State Board of Elections said that, as of now, the board did not plan to add Berger’s request to their meeting agenda on Wednesday.
“At its meeting this past week, the state board indicated it would follow the recount process set by state law,” the spokesperson, Jason Tyson, said.
The partial recount must be completed by Wednesday’s meeting, which is when the State Board of Elections meets to certify election results. A winner will not be declared at that time in Berger and Page’s race, though, because there are outstanding election protests.
Berger, who has led the state Senate ever since Republicans took the majority in 2011, has undergone a brutal primary in recent months as he fights to maintain his status as one of North Carolina’s most powerful politicians.
Despite receiving an endorsement from President Donald Trump and benefiting from millions in campaign spending, Berger trailed Page by two votes on election night. After provisional ballots were counted, Page’s lead grew to 23 votes.
Since then, Berger has pursued several avenues to alter the results.
He filed a series of election protests alleging irregularities in vote counting, made an unusual and unsuccessful request to state election officials singling out 220 ballots he wants examined by hand, and requested recounts of the results.
Officials in Guilford and Rockingham counties, where Berger’s Senate district is located, completed the full machine recount on Thursday. It affirmed the exact same result as before: Page leads by 23 votes.
As for the election protests, which make various allegations about voters receiving the wrong ballot or being unable to vote in their preferred primary, county officials agreed to let Berger’s complaints proceed at preliminary hearings on Thursday.
They did not, however, weigh in on the merits of his claims. Those will be considered at full evidentiary hearings on March 27 in Rockingham and April 6 in Guilford.
In sum, Berger’s election protests only affect 13 voters — not enough to clear the gap between himself and Page.
But, in rare cases, election protests can lead to a new election being called. This would require a vote of at least four of the five members of the State Board of Elections.
This story was originally published March 20, 2026 at 2:39 PM with the headline "NC Senate leader Phil Berger asks for new recount in contested primary."
