From Staff Reports

ASHEVILLE, N.C. — The results of the 2026 primary election “became official on March 13, after the Buncombe County Board of Elections met to complete vote certification,” Asheville television station WLOS (News 13) reported later March 13.

“Buncombe County government said members met to review administrative challenges, present audits for all voting types and give the board the opportunity to inspect the results before certification,” News 13 noted.

“Results reported on election night are unofficial and are certified only after a canvass determines whether all votes have been counted and tabulated correctly. County officials said the canvass period is when officials count absentee ballots and research provisional ballots, which are then added to the unofficial results released on election night.”

In a March 13 news release, Election Services Director Corinne Duncan said, “The work that goes into certifying an election is labor-intensive and important. Our staff worked tirelessly, adapted to changes and met all deadlines. The process continues to go more and more smoothly each election.”

The release added, “The board voted to certify the election results just before 12:30 p.m. and submitted them to the state board. The complete list of results can be found at buncombenc.gov/vote.”

News 13 noted, “The BOE said 30,772 ballots were cast during the early voting period and 23,267 on Election Day, accounting for about 26 percent of eligible county voters.

Followiing is a summary of key 2026 primary election data, based on the release:

• Absentee ballots made up 1.5 percent of the total votes, with 831 mail-in ballots received before the Election Day deadline.

• Absentee ballots consisted of 88 percent civilian, 1 percent military and 11 percent overseas voters.

• Election officials said 192 absentee ballots were not allowed, including 181 received after the Election Day deadline.

• Election officials said there were no races in Buncombe County where results were narrower than the number of ballots received after the March 3 deadline.

• A total of 304 provisional ballots were cast across the county — and 129 of those were not approved for various reasons, including unregistered voters or those that voted their incorrect party ballot.

News 13’s “Comment Bubble” that appeared after its story included the following asssertions:

• jbbost — “This is to the 75 percent of people who could have voted, but did not: actually go vote in November during the general election. Assuming you can dig up or replace the litany of IDs you need, all you do is walk up to old people sitting at a table, they sign you in, print out your ballot, then you stick it in a giant ipad, go boop-boop-boop, print it out, scantron it, and a dude gives you your sticker. Do it early and you can do it whereever you want in your county; do it on the election day, you gotta look up your specific voting precinct. ‘BUT DO IT FOR AMERICA, GO VOTE,’ a redtailed hawk off in the distance cries.”

• Penguin82 — “Litany of ID’s?? You need a drivers license, or North Carolina voter ID card, or U.S. passport, or college or university ID, or state ID from the NCDMV. You can also get a free Voter Photo ID from the county Board of Elections, or military or veterans ID card with photo, or tribal enrollment card with photo, or drivers license or non-driver ID from another state, or public assistance program ID card issued by the U.S. gov’t or the State of N.C......also, a voter 65 or older may use an expired ID if the ID was unexpired on their 65 birthday.. There are a multitude of options.” 

• SubaverageVoter — “I remembered to vote this time.”