Depending on the results of ballot canvassing Friday by the Beaufort County Board of Elections, there could be a recount in the election for four seats on the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners.

The canvass begins at 11 a.m. The North Carolina State Board of Elections will certify statewide results for all federal, statewide, multi-district and judicial contests at a public meeting held at 11 a.m. Nov. 29. Results in each contest are not considered official until that date.

Unofficial vote totals from the Nov. 8 general election show incumbent Commissioner Gary Brinn as the fourth-highest vote-getter in the commissioners race, just 53 votes ahead of Derik Davis, who finished fifth among seven candidates. Brinn collected 3,271 votes to Davis’ 3,218 votes, less than a 1-percent difference. After the canvass, the four highest vote-getters in the election will be certified as the winners.

Under North Carolina law (General Statute 163-182), a candidate can demand a recount if the difference between the votes for that candidate and the votes of the winning candidate is less than 1 percent of the total votes cast in a non-statewide race, or in the case of a multi-seat ballot item, 1 percent of the votes cast for those two candidates.

Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director for Beaufort County, said the addition of approved provisional ballots and any absentee ballots that arrived after the general election and by 5 p.m. today could change vote totals in the commissioners race. After the canvass, if the difference between the vote totals for Brinn and Davis remains at less than 1 percent, Davis could request a recount. Such a request must be filed in writing must be received by the State Board of Elections by noon on the second business day after the county canvass.

The law also contains this provision: “If at that time the available returns show a candidate not entitled to a mandatory recount, but the Executive Director determines subsequently that the margin is within the threshold set out in this subsection, the Executive Director shall notify the eligible candidate immediately and that candidate shall be entitled to a recount if that candidate so demands within 48 hours of notice. The recount shall be conducted under the supervision of the State Board of Elections.”

Harris said a local recount would pose no problem for the county board because it will be conducting a recount in at least one statewide race, the contest for the governorship between Republican incumbent Pat McCrory and Democratic challenger Roy Cooper, the state’s attorney general. Less than a half a percent in the vote totals separate Cooper from McCrory. Unofficial vote totals show Cooper with 48.97 percent of the vote to McCrory’s 48.86 percent of the vote total.