Buncombe County elections board reconvenes to process ballots; results delayed until 8:30 p.m.

The Buncombe County Board of Elections reconvened at 7:30 p.m. on election night to resume ballot processing and tabulation, but officials said results would not be released until 8:30 p.m. because the State Board of Elections extended hours at a precinct in another county.

"The polls have officially closed," Director Duncan told the board, then warned: "Because a polling location is still voting, we cannot reveal results until they are done." She said the State Board met and allowed the other county's site to stay open until 8:30 p.m., a decision that delays public posting of statewide totals until that site finishes voting.

Why it matters: election officials said the pause preserves uniform statewide reporting and prevents partial disclosure while a precinct remains active. The board used the interval to complete routine closing procedures for absentee and early-voting equipment and to prepare the absentee abstract the county must retain and sign.

Staff demonstrated closing the DS200 absentee scanner and printing results tapes for board signatures. Bria walked the board through the machine-closing steps and explained that three printed copies of each tape are produced—one posted at the voting site, one uploaded to the state site, and a retained copy kept for public-records requests. "We kept one in case we have those that we can, you know, use for public records requests," Director Duncan said.

Erin presented the county's absentee totals and processing notes: "We do have 20 total ballots," she said, listing 11 civilian, eight overseas and one military absentee ballot in the batch under review. Staff also described a federal write-in application (FLOB) that was duplicated and set aside for board review because the voter had used the write-in form; the duplicate was to be reviewed by Mary Anne and Sally per the board's process.

After staff generated a handwritten absentee abstract to match the printed output and prepared poly-bag labels, the board signed tapes and compared abstracts to printed results as part of chain-of-custody and verification steps. Director Duncan described the flash-drive transfer process: two staffers bring each drive in a "buddy" system to the secure warehouse, where drives and ballot boxes are stored in a camera- and badge-controlled room before uploads.

Bria then uploaded the absentee results to the State Board of Elections website; Director Duncan said early-voting uploads were next and that election-day uploads would follow precinct by precinct. "Brie is uploading them right now," Director Duncan said as members refreshed the state site and watched absentee results appear.

The board considered moving the media availability to the warehouse once uploads were complete to provide better access for reporters; Director Duncan suggested a 10 p.m. media availability at the warehouse and noted the board would adjourn from that location if members agreed.

Procedural action: The Chair asked for a motion "to accept the final absentee ballots for this election cycle as presented." Bria moved to accept the absentee batch; the Chair seconded, and members signified approval with "aye." The board accepted the absentee ballots prepared during the meeting.

Next steps: Director Duncan noted the board will meet at 1:00 a.m. the next day to review provisional ballots and any photo-ID exception forms that require board action. The public was invited to the warehouse for the adjourned session and media availability.

The board's actions and uploads were framed as routine, procedural steps to ensure accurate reporting and recordkeeping; officials emphasized chain-of-custody, printed tapes and retention of records for public inspection as measures to maintain transparency.