raleigh, n.c.<u+2014>the winner of the north carolina governor<u+2019>s race likely won<u+2019>t be clear for several more weeks, as election officials scramble to address allegations of voter fraud raised in half the state<u+2019>s counties by republican incumbent pat mccrory. democrat roy cooper said the tally of absentee and provisional ballots validated so far has bumped his margin to more than 7,500 votes, according to his lawyers<u+2019> tally. that<u+2019>s significantly more than the roughly 5,000 votes out of 4.7 million cast in unofficial results on election day. <u+201c>this race has simply gotten away from pat mccrory,<u+201d> said marc elias, mr. cooper<u+2019>s lawyer, in a<u+00a0>friday<u+00a0>conference call with reporters. the governor<u+2019>s allegations of fraud are uniformly against local boards of elections dominated by republicans he appointed, mr. elias said. many of the challenges were dismissed by local boards<u+00a0>on friday,<u+00a0>and the remaining ones are unlikely to succeed or undo <u+201c>basic math,<u+201d> mr. elias said. mccrory spokesman ricky diaz said mr. cooper<u+2019>s continued declaration of victory is a <u+201c>presumptuous statement based on piecemeal results.<u+201d> <u+201c>let<u+2019>s be clear,<u+201d> mr. diaz said, in a<u+00a0>friday<u+00a0>statement. <u+201c>the counting is not complete.<u+201d> the state<u+2019>s elections results would normally have been completed by<u+00a0>friday, according to state law. that is when local boards of election in the state<u+2019>s 100 counties would have met to review and certify results of votes cast by nov. 8 and those evaluated thereafter. but mr. mccrory has raised questions about voter fraud in 50 counties, most notably durham, where mr. cooper got a late surge of votes on election night. many county boards dismissed most of mr. mccrory<u+2019>s claims in<u+00a0>friday<u+00a0>meetings, including durham and wake counties, two of the state<u+2019>s largest. but some county boards postponed their final canvass of results to both consider mr. mccrory<u+2019>s allegations and to ensure that the counties complied with a separate federal court order that they reconcile records from the state division of motor vehicles with voter files. some voters said they registered at the dmv but were forced to cast a provisional ballot on election day because the dmv records weren<u+2019>t reflected in voter rolls. nationwide, republicans on nov. 8 picked up governorships in typically democratic states like new hampshire and vermont and are likely to increase their advantage in governorships to 33-16 over democrats, from 31-18. alaska has an independent as governor. president-elect donald trump and u.s. sen. richard burr carried north carolina handily, as did republicans running statewide for treasurer and lieutenant governor. but mr. mccrory lost the state<u+2019>s two biggest metropolitan areas of charlotte and raleigh, both of which he carried in 2012. many voters said they disapproved of mr. mccrory<u+2019>s championing a law<u+00a0>restricting public bathroom use by transgender people. counties are likely to complete their tallies sometime around<u+00a0>nov. 30,<u+00a0>said gerry cohen, former special counsel to the north carolina legislature and an expert on state election law.<u+00a0>mr. mccrory then will have two days to request a recount, as his backers say he is likely<u+00a0>to do. write to valerie bauerlein at valerie.bauerlein@wsj.com
north carolina governor<u+2019>s race result is delayed by fraud claim  - wsj
valerie bauerlein