Why AP Hasn’t Called North Carolina

By BRIAN SLODYSKO

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/Gerry Broome)

WHY AP HASN’T CALLED NORTH CAROLINA

The Associated Press has not declared a winner in North Carolina’s presidential contest because a week after Election Day, the race between President-elect Joe Biden and President Donald Trump is still too early to call.

The AP on Saturday declared Biden had won the presidency. But individual contests in North Carolina and Georgia are still too tight for a winner to be declared in those states.

In North Carolina, Trump was ahead of Biden by about 73,260 votes on Wednesday. The presidential race is closer than the race for Senate, which AP called for Republican Sen. Thom Tillis.

Absentee and provisional votes counted since Election Day have favored Biden, shrinking Trump’s lead by a little more than 3,400 votes.

Some 92,300 voters who requested ballots have not returned them. However, only a few thousand absentee ballots have arrived at election offices since Election Day.

As long as ballots were postmarked by Nov. 3, state election officials have until Thursday to receive and count them.

The AP will reassess the race once the deadline to return absentee ballots has passed.