Breaking News · Hoke County · Election 2026 · Post-Election Audit · Public Records · Accountability · DINA Analysis

RAEFORD, North Carolina, November 4, 2026, 1:46 p.m. ET — North Carolina's random post-election audit drawing selected all Hoke County absentee-by-mail ballots and the one-stop early-voting group from Rockfish Community Center for a public hand count of the U.S. Senate contest.

Hoke County's official schedule says the county Board of Elections will hold its sample-audit meeting at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, November 5, in the Commissioners Room. Official county records identify that room as being in the Pratt Building at 227 N. Main St. in Raeford.

What actually happened

The State Board conducted a public random drawing Wednesday using a 10-digit seed generated by sequential rolls of 10-sided dice. The agency said its software used that seed and a statewide input file to select two voting groups in every county. It then posted the input file, output file and a video of the drawing.

For Hoke County, row 92 of the output selects the countywide absentee-by-mail group. Row 93 selects Rockfish Community Center's one-stop early-voting group. The state treats all absentee-by-mail ballots in a county as one administrative voting group for this audit.

The audit covers the U.S. Senate contest, not every race and referendum on the selected ballots. Hoke's unofficial election-night return showed Roy Cooper leading Michael Whatley countywide, but the audit's purpose is to compare the selected groups' hand tallies with their machine tallies. It is not a recount of every Hoke ballot and does not certify the election.

What readers should expect Thursday

State guidance requires bipartisan teams to conduct the hand-eye count during an open county-board meeting before canvass. Officials should record the hand count, the corresponding voting-system count and any variance, then submit that information to the State Board with an explanation for discrepancies.

Hoke County's posted schedule identifies the date, time and Commissioners Room but does not link a dedicated November 5 agenda, audit worksheet, remote-viewing option or public-comment procedure. The absence of those materials does not establish misconduct. It does leave residents without a single official notice showing the audit's detailed procedure or documents in advance.

Why it matters

The selected groups span two different voting methods: mail voting and in-person early voting. A transparent comparison can give the public evidence about whether tabulators recorded the selected U.S. Senate ballots consistently with a manual review.

The audit is one part of the post-election process. Hoke's provisional-ballot meeting is scheduled for 2 p.m. Friday, November 6, and county canvass for 11 a.m. Friday, November 13. Election-night totals remain unofficial until the required review and canvass are complete.

DINA analysis

The selection itself is neither validation of every contest nor evidence of an error. Its accountability value depends on the record produced Thursday. A meaningful audit trail should let a reader identify the selected ballot group, the number of ballots reviewed, the machine total, the independent hand total, the personnel and party representation on each counting team, each variance and the official explanation for it.

Because the absentee-by-mail selection covers a countywide administrative group, officials should also explain how ballots are assembled for the count, how duplicated or damaged ballots are handled and how the chain of custody is documented. For the Rockfish one-stop group, the record should identify the tabulator or results media being compared and reconcile the audit count to the site's closing documents.

Strongest accountability angle

The public should not have to choose between trusting an election-night dashboard and distrusting it without evidence. The strongest test is whether the Hoke County Board of Elections, led administratively by Elections Director Chassidy Chavis, publishes the complete audit worksheet and any variance explanation promptly enough for independent review before canvass.

Urgent follow-up and public records

  • The completed sample-audit worksheets for the absentee-by-mail and Rockfish Community Center groups, including hand totals, machine totals, variance and explanation.
  • The ballot manifest or accounting record showing the number of ballots presented for each selected group and any excluded, duplicated, spoiled or challenged ballots.
  • Chain-of-custody logs, seal records, retrieval logs and room-access records covering the selected ballots from election night through completion of the audit.
  • The names and party affiliations or bipartisan-team assignments of audit counters, observers and board members present, consistent with public-record and privacy law.
  • The tabulator tapes, cast-vote-record summary or voting-system report used for comparison with each hand count.
  • Any meeting notice, agenda, instructions, training materials, minutes, video or audio recording created for the November 5 audit meeting.

Sources

Related DINA reporting

This report will be updated if Hoke County publishes the hand-count comparison, a variance explanation, a revised meeting notice or a material post-election correction.