State Representative Michael Wray said he will wait until Tuesday’s primary election results are certified before proceeding with other plans in the wake of his 42-vote loss to Northampton County school teacher Rodney Pierce in the House 27 race.

The canvassing of the votes in Halifax County will be next Friday at 11 a.m. in the board of commissioners room at the Historic Courthouse on King Street in Halifax.

Wray lost the election by a .36 percent margin. Pierce won in Halifax while Wray carried Warren and Northampton.

In a statement today he said, “State law requires county boards of elections to meet at 11 a.m. on the tenth day after the election to complete the canvass of votes cast and to authenticate the vote by determining that the votes have been counted and tabulated correctly.  No results are official until each county board completes this process.”

He said determinations remain to be made in regard to provisional ballots, absentee ballots and any ballots that were rejected by voting machines. “Until that process is completed, it would be premature for either candidate to talk about a recount.” 

A candidate has the right to demand a recount of the votes if the difference between the votes for that candidate and the votes for a prevailing candidate are not more than 1 percent of the total votes cast in the ballot item.  

The county canvass will determine if either of the candidates can call for a recount.

“We look forward to working with the county boards of elections to ensure that all votes have been counted. At that point, we will determine our next steps.”