After the Beaufort County Board of Elections canvassed a likely record number of provisional ballots cast in a primary, some candidates gained additional votes, but not enough to change results.

The canvass was conducted Tuesday.

A recount in the Republican primary to select four nominees for the Beaufort County Board of Commissioners is scheduled for 8 a.m. today at the Board of Elections office at 1308 Highland Drive in Washington. Don Cox, who finished fifth in that primary, requested a recount Tuesday. He filed his written request while the board was canvassing ballots.

Because there is less than a 1-percent difference between Cox’s vote total (954) and Gary Brinn’s vote total (996), Cox is eligible to request a recount, Hopkins said.

Cox picked up five votes as a result of the canvass. Brinn picked up four votes during the canvass. There are four seats on the seven-member Board of Commissioners open this election cycle. The four Republican nominees — Hood Richardson, Derik Davis, Jerry Evans and the winner of the recount — take on Democrats Jerry Langley, Ed Booth and Robert Belcher in the Nov. 8 general election.

In Beaufort County, 109 provisional ballots were cast during the primary, according to Kellie Harris Hopkins, elections director for Beaufort County. “I think that’s a record number for a primary,” she said. In the 2014 primary, 35 provisional ballots were cast, and in the 2012 primary, 42 provisional ballots were cast, she said.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections also reports 38,740 provisional ballots case state wide in the March 15 primary, up from 23,177 in the 2012 primary and up from 31,881 in the 2008 primary.

Of the 109 provisional ballots cast in Beaufort County, eight of them were rejected because voters failed to provide a valid ID at the polling place and did not meet the noon deadline Monday to produce a valid ID at the Board of Elections. Two voters, who did not have a valid ID with them at their polling places and filled out provisional ballots, had their ballots counted because they later provided valid IDs, Hopkins said.

Of the 109 provisional ballots, 54 were rejected for various reasons — a voter was not registered, voters were registered in another county or the person was a felon whose right to vote has not been restored.

One Beaufort County voter, who voted at the North Creek polling place, could be investigated by the State Board of Elections.

“We have identified a possible double voter. It’s the same name. The signatures are similar. That is going to be referred to the state board for investigation. They will take that from here. I will keep y’all up to date on how that goes,” Hopkins told the three-member Beaufort County Board of Elections. “With that being said, there’s nothing we can do to go pull that ballot because on Election Day they are unretrievable. So, it’s a done deal.”

After its investigation, the state board could forward its findings to a prosecutor, who could bring charges against the person suspected of double voting. Voting twice during a primary, general election or special election is a felony under General Statute 163-275(7).