What happens next in the N.C. governor’s race?

There are still votes to be counted — and the number remaining out there could certainly still swing the election.

Democrat Roy Cooper ended the night with a 5,000 vote lead over incumbent Gov. Pat McCrory, and Cooper declared victory in a brief speech and statement to the media.

McCrory did not concede, and said on Twitter on Wednesday that, “The votes have been cast, but many have yet to be counted. Respect the process.”

So what’s left to be counted?

Mostly absentee and provisional ballots.

Absentee ballots allow people to vote by mail, and they only have to be postmarked by election day. These will be trickling in over the next few days. These figures would also include military and overseas voting.

Provisional ballots are filed if there’s some sort of issue with the vote, whether the person went to the wrong precinct, or they moved right before the election.

How many are we talking about?

Tens of thousands. It’s unclear just how many, and we won’t know for several days. Early results indicate Mecklenburg County alone could have more than 3,000.

In 2012, there were about 11,700 absentee votes counted post-election. They split 65 percent for Republican candidate Mitt Romney.

That same year, there were 23,000 provisional ballots accepted. Those split 58 percent for President Barack Obama.

(All of those 2012 figures come from N.C. election guru Gerry Cohen.)

Using back of the napkin math, if everything splits just like it did in 2012, Roy Cooper would remain in the lead. But of course there’s nothing guaranteeing the same results as four years ago.

Photo by Roy Cooper via Facebook

When will we have an answer?

November 18. That’s when all this vote counting is due.

What about a recount?

That would happen after the updated vote totals .

In statewide races, elections decided by less than 10,000 votes are subject to a recount (per N.C. law). One particularly contentious recount will be in Durham County, where about 93,000 votes weren’t uploaded until nearly midnight. They were enough to swing the statewide vote in Cooper’s favor. Reports from the ground indicated those votes were being read off aloud. The McCrory campaign has already questioned those votes.

The losing candidate has until Nov. 22 to formally ask for a recount (in writing). The recount would be scheduled and held in public meetings.

Then the final results would be certified Nov. 29.