Why hasn’t the governor’s race ended yet?

At this point, challenger and Democratic state attorney general Roy Cooper has more votes in his favor, according to the N.C. Board of Elections. But Gov. Pat McCrory still has not conceded, and is trying a few more legal maneuvers to see if a few thousand more votes will shake out his way.

Here’s an explanation of why the governor’s race hasn’t reached a conclusion.

What’s going on right now?

Here’s the simplest way to put it: Not every vote is counted on Election Day. Most of them are, though, and usually that’s enough to decide the race and for the loser to concede defeat. This year, several races — including the contest between Gov. Pat McCrory and Roy Cooper — were close enough after initial results came in that votes traditionally counted after Election Day could have an impact on the race.

Each of North Carolina’s 100 counties were tasked with counting up all the provisional and absentee ballots cast in their jurisdictions. These are votes that come in by mail, from overseas or votes made in a different polling precinct or by somebody who didn’t appear on voter rolls for one reason or another.

[Agenda story from Nov. 10: What happens next in the N.C. governor’s race?]

Generally, all this is done by the week after the election. But as of Tuesday, fewer than half of the state’s counties had submitted official vote totals. The rest, including Mecklenburg and Wake counties, are still pending.

Who is winning as of right now?

Cooper holds a 6,311 vote edge, as of the most recent data submitted by the N.C. Board of Elections. This is a slightly larger lead than he held at the end of Election Day.

What is Gov. McCrory doing?

Challenging the validity of certain votes. His campaign has filed formal protests in more than half of the state’s counties, alleging voter fraud.

McCrory has asked the state board to take over control of all the protested votes. The campaign argues essentially that there are potentially enough fraudulent votes to change the election. Cooper’s campaign argues otherwise.

The board declined to take control, but met for several hours Tuesday to discuss how the protests should be handled. Meanwhile, they’ve directed the counties to continue to count votes.

On Tuesday, the governor also filed a request for a formal recount of all the state’s votes, which is his right under state law since the margin is less than 10,000 votes total. “With serious concerns of potential voter fraud emerging across the state, it is becoming more apparent that a thorough recount is one way the people of North Carolina can have confidence in the results, process and systems,” he wrote in a letter to the state board of elections.

What voter fraud is McCrory claiming?

The McCrory campaign cites “known instances of votes being cast by dead people, felons or individuals who voted more than once.”

In the most well-known example, the McCrory camp claims it has evidence that a Democratic Party-funded political action committee in Bladen County paid people to fraudulently fill out absentee ballots. Similar complaints have been filed in other counties as well.

McCrory also cites evidence that the N.C. Board of Elections discovered several hundred votes cast by felons.

What is Roy Cooper doing?

As his lead has grown, Cooper has gone ahead and begun planning for his administration. Cooper has announced a transition team, naming Capstrat founder Ken Eudy as the executive director. He’s continued to declare victory and call on McCrory to concede.

As for the recount, a Cooper spokesman said, “This is nothing but a last-ditch effort from Governor McCrory to delay and deny the results of this election.”

Photo by Roy Cooper via Facebook

Is there anything else at play?

Yup. A conservative think tank has filed a lawsuit claiming that the way North Carolina handled same-day voter registrations violated state law. Same-day voter registrants tend to lean Democrat.

Does Gov. McCrory have any chance of serving a second term?

The chances are growing slimmer as counties count more votes and the totals don’t seem to be going McCrory’s way. But there is speculation that the McCrory camp is trying to cast enough doubt on the legitimacy of the election to cast it into the Republican-led legislature’s hands.

According to the state constitution, the state legislature can decide the outcome of a “contested” statewide race. This actually happened once before to install June Atkinson as state superintendent of public instruction in 2005 over a vote difference of about 8,500.

State House Speaker Tim Moore has called that a “last resort.”

I’m sick of this. Is there any light at the end of the tunnel?

It’s still going to be awhile. Usually the final results would be certified by Nov. 29, but that is exceedingly unlikely at this point. We’re looking at early to mid December at the earliest.