RALEIGH, N.C. — Three weeks after Election Day, the North Carolina governor’s race remains an unresolved, hotly contested muddle. The Democratic challenger, Roy Cooper, has declared victory. But the Republican incumbent, Pat McCrory, trailing by thousands of votes in the as-yet-unfinished tally, has refused to concede, as he and his allies charge that the election was marred by numerous irregularities.

Mr. McCrory’s foes are furious. Last week, they parked a U-Haul truck in front of the governor’s mansion and waved moving boxes adorned with the face of Ray Charles as they sang, “Hit the Road, Pat.” On Monday evening, hundreds gathered at the state Capitol, shouting, “No stealing our election!”

The North Carolina imbroglio is so complicated, with so many moving pieces, that a spokesman for the State Board of Elections could not say Tuesday when it might be resolved. It comes amid four years of pitched ideological battles in a state sharply split between Democrats and Republicans.

But it also comes amid a broader wave of skepticism about the integrity of the basic mechanics of the American electoral process, including the recount of the presidential results in three states sought by Jill Stein, the Green Party candidate. The move enraged President-elect Donald J. Trump, who this week said on Twitter that “millions” of people had illegally voted for Hillary Clinton, a widely derided claim for which he offered no evidence.</s></s>LGBT groups who supported Democrat Roy Cooper’s bid for governor of North Carolina are declaring victory on his behalf after Cooper’s lead over Gov. Pat McCrory grew to 10,329 votes, with six counties yet to report final tallies. If Cooper’s margin remains above 10,000 votes when all county election boards have reported their results, it would impossible for McCrory to request a taxpayer-funded recount. He could, however, request for and pay for one using his own money.

The Human Rights Campaign and Equality NC, which both opposed McCrory’s re-election because of his support of the anti-LGBT HB 2 law, called on McCrory to concede. As evidence of Cooper’s victory, the two organizations cited exit polling which showed 66 percent of voters reporting opposition to HB 2, and separate polling by Greenberg Quinlan Rosner Research showing a majority of voters had cited HB 2 as reason not to vote for McCrory.

“North Carolina just sent a powerful message to the entire country: the days of preying on LGBTQ people for political gain is over,” HRC President Chad Griffin said in a statement. “McCrory failed to listen to the majority of fair-minded North Carolinians who know that anti-LGBTQ hatred has no place in their state — and he lost big because of it.”

But McCrory has refused to acknowledge the election results, choosing instead to lodge voter protests in 52 of the state’s 100 counties. The Republican-controlled State Board of Elections dismissed all 52 of those complaints.

Tom Stark, a Republican attorney who is a supporter of McCrory, claimed that officials in Durham County had engaged in “malfeasance” in counting those ballots because they relied on inaccurate ballot machines, reports The New York Times. Stark wants more than 90,000 Durham County votes to be recounted by hand because of election “irregularities.” The Republican-controlled Durham County election board unanimously rejected that request. Stark appealed to the State Board of Elections, which was in the midst of hearing that appeal as of 5:55 p.m.

But a Cooper victory could also be delayed because of a separate federal lawsuit filed by Francis X. De Luca, president of the Civitas Institute, a Raleigh-based conservative think tank. In that suit, De Luca is objecting to a state provision allowing residents to register and vote on the same day during the state’s early voting period.

Because such registrations cannot be verified until after the state certifies the election results, De Luca argues that they should not be included in the final tally of votes until those registrations can be verified. A hearing in that case is scheduled to be heard on Dec. 8 in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina.

But Cooper allies say McCrory and his allies’ post-election antics are just sour grapes.

“Today, we have hit another milestone in the Governor’s race, that Roy Cooper has clearly won. The margin is now above 10,000 votes. This marks a decisive victory for Roy Cooper and does not allow for an automatic recount given the size of the margin,” said Chris Sgro, the executive director of Equality NC. “It’s time for Pat McCrory to concede this race immediately to make sure that the state of North Carolina can go along it’s business with Governor Cooper at its helm.”</s>(CNN) North Carolina voters cast ballots for their next governor three weeks ago. But still, somehow, a winner has yet to be declared and neither candidate has conceded.

Roy Cooper, the state's Democratic attorney general, has seen a narrow lead grow during that time. According to his campaign, he's now 10,000 votes ahead.

Meanwhile, Gov. Pat McCrory, the embattled Republican incumbent who faced fallout this year for supporting the state's controversial "bathroom bill, " has refused to concede the race because he wants a recount.

The reason, he's said, is voting irregularities that could change the final outcome of the race.

Indeed, McCrory won a small victory Wednesday -- keeping his fading hopes for re-election alive -- when the Republican-controlled North Carolina State Board of Elections Wednesday ordered a machine recount of more than 90,000 ballots in Durham County. The majority of those voters in a deep-blue county, located in the heart of the Research Triangle, had cast ballots for Cooper.

"What harm would it do to scan these votes and count them so no that one campaign is going to think why wouldn't they count those votes?" election board member James Baker, a Republican, asked at the hearing.

Russell Peck, campaign manager for McCrory, said in a statement that the governor is pleased that the election board has granted the request.

"We will respect whatever the results show," Peck said. "We ask that this is done immediately."

Trey Nix, Cooper's campaign manager, seemed unfazed by the recount's approval. Responding to the board's decision, Nix said Cooper remained "confident" that the end results will continue to be in favor of Cooper.

"It is wrong that Governor McCrory continues to waste taxpayer money with false accusations and attempts to delay and that the Republican controlled Board of Elections did not follow the law," Nix said in a statement. "However, Roy Cooper's lead has grown to over 10,000 votes and after a partial recount of 6 precincts in one county, the outcome of the election will be the same."

When will North Carolina know?

If Cooper does in fact have a 10,000-vote lead, McCrory would not benefit from a mandatory statewide recount, which his campaign had hoped for in recent weeks. CNN affiliate WTVD reports that 94 of the state's 100 counties have finished counting ballots.

"It's time to accept the will of the people," North Carolina Democratic Party Chairwoman Patsy Keever told WTVD.</s>If Cooper can maintain this lead McCrory will not be able to ask for a recount

RALEIGH, N.C. — Gov. Pat McCrory is trailing Attorney General Roy Cooper in the gubernatorial race by over 10,000 votes, the threshold for a recount, according to the State Board of Elections website. This is the first time Cooper’s lead has grown to that benchmark, and nearly all of the counties are finished with their counting.

McCory has been battling for his political life, demanding recounts and claiming voter fraud in a tight race.

McCrory officially filed for a recount to avoid missing a deadline, but if Cooper can maintain this lead there will be no recount. ABC 11 reports that there are four counties still out.

The State Board of Elections is scheduled to hear the appeal of a Republican attorney requesting that more than 90,000 Durham County votes be recounted by hand because of alleged irregularities. The Durham board has already dismissed his request, citing that there is no evidence the ballots were tallied incorrectly.

The election largely became a referendum on HB2, the anti-LGBTQ law McCrory signed, which cost the state millions of dollars in lost revenue and thousands of jobs. Cooper opposed the bill.

About the author: Jeff Taylor is a journalist, artist and social media editor. In addition to QNotes, his work has appeared in publications such The Charlotte Observer, Creative Loafing Charlotte, Inside Lacrosse, and McSweeney’s Internet Tendency. He graduated from the State University of New York at Brockport and has lived in Charlotte since 2006. Follow him on Twitter @jefftaylorhuman.
The recount in North Carolina continues amid pressure towards Republican candidate Pat McCrory to accept his defeat by Democratic nominee Roy Cooper.