GREENSBORO — Gov. Pat McCrory's reelection bid suffered yet another setback late Monday night as the State Board of Elections rejected protests filed by his campaign in 52 counties.
The announcement ended yet another day that was filled with more drama as Roy Cooper's campaign tried to put pressure on McCrory to concede the election while a rally was held outside the governor's office in Raleigh demanding the same.
Meanwhile, the state attorney general's lead over McCrory in Guilford County increased by 732 votes Monday as the Board of Elections completed its canvass of election results.
Cooper picked up 1,306 additional votes while McCrory netted an additional 574. Cooper’s total increased to 155,692 votes compared to McCrory’s 94,467.
Statewide, Cooper's lead over McCrory increased to 9,558 votes, according to the State Board of Elections website. As of Monday afternoon, 86 of the state's 100 counties had submitted final election results.
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That gap, nearly twice as large as it was on Election Day, is nearing the 10,000-vote threshold after which McCrory can't call for a recount.
Last week, he'd asked for a statewide recount but said Saturday he would withdraw the request if the state agreed to order a hand recount of about 94,000 ballots in largely Democratic Durham County — most of them cast during early voting.
"Governor-elect Roy Cooper has won the race," Marc Elias, Cooper's elections attorney, said in a conference call earlier Monday. "There simply is no path for Gov. McCrory to win this election in a recount."
The McCrory campaign filed a handful of protests in Guilford County, asking the board to dismiss the votes of same-day registrants who didn't pass the verification process.
McCrory also accused nine people of voting in two states and eight people of voting despite having a felony on their record
The county Board of Elections dismissed the first protest Monday, citing a lack of evidence and expunged four ballots from the voting record from people it deemed had voted despite having felony records.
The remaining four votes stood as cast, the board said.
The county board also denied same-day voting registration for 13 voters after letters sent to their homes to verify their addresses came back as "undeliverable."
"These protests, which have taken a lot of time and energy and resources in the counties, have not moved the result at all," Elias said.
In Raleigh, one McCrory's fiercest critics said it was time to "end these games" and acknowledge he lost his bid for reelection.
The Rev. William Barber spoke at a rally Monday evening attended by several hundred people outside the old Capitol building, where McCrory keeps an office.
The state NAACP president said voters gave McCrory a failing grade for his nearly four years in office and it's time election results are certified. He also threatened mass protests and arrests if the legislature intervened to decide the outcome of the race.

