Tony Williams, by a two-vote margin, defeated incumbent Steve Carawan for the available East End seat on the Belhaven Board of Aldermen after a canvassing and a recount of the votes Tuesday.

The Beaufort County Board of Elections found two additional votes for Carawan during its canvassing procedure. The recount of ballots by a voting tabulator showed no change in vote totals reported Election Day,

“I’m satisfied with the recount process, certainly,” Williams said moments after he was declared the winner by the board.”

Williams said he’s ready to begin serving as an alderman.

“I want to start moving forward and get with the rest of the council and see if we can continue to move Belhaven forward,” said Williams, who observed the board’s canvassing and recount procedures.

Carawan was also at the board’s meeting.

“Tony won, He won by two votes. He won,” Carawan said.

Once the board determined Williams had won the election by two votes, Carawan wished Williams well during his term in office. Then the two men shook hands and hugged.

Unofficial vote totals from the Belhaven polling place on Election Day had Williams and Carawan tied with 228 votes. Vote totals from the early voting period had Williams with seven votes and Carawan with three votes, giving Williams an unofficial four-vote lead over Carawan.

Several days after the Nov. 5 general election, Carawan requested a recount. State law allows for a recount if the difference between two candidates’ vote totals is 1 percent or less.

During the board’s canvassing, it approved a provisional ballot that included a vote for Carawan and an absentee ballot that included a vote for Carawan, cutting Williams’ lead in the race to two votes. The absentee ballot was received after Election Day. If an absentee ballot is postmarked before or on Election Day and received by the Board of Elections by the Friday immediately after Election Day, that ballot is valid, according to Kellie Harris Hopkins, Beaufort County’s elections director.

A second provisional ballot in the Belhaven elections was rejected because the voter failed to update voter registration information (an address in this case) as required by law.