LUMBERTON — Election protests that have kept a Lumberton City Council race up in the air two months after the election will be heard on Monday.
The protests have been filed by both candidates vying to represent Lumberton’s Precinct 7 — incumbent Leon Maynor and challenger Laura Sampson.
The Robeson County Board of Elections has already held a preliminary hearing on the protests and determined there is sufficient evidence to back up the claims, but because of the holidays, a full hearing could not be scheduled until Monday.
Sampson contends that during a hand-to-eye recount of all votes cast in the Precinct 7 election that at least one ballot was counted as a vote for Maynor although the bubbles had been filled in next to both Maynor’s name and hers. She also says that because there is a single vote separating her and Maynor that ballot could change the outcome of the race. Following the hand-to-eye recount, Maynor was up 282 votes to Sampson’s 281.
Maynor’s petition argues that a ballot with circles darkened next to each of their names that was counted in Sampson’s favor should be removed. He is also questioning a vote cast during one-stop voting and the procedures used by the Board of Elections to challenge the ballot.
The hearing will be held at the Elections Board office at 800 N. Walnut St. in Lumberton at 9 a.m.
