Cobb takes the lead in Roanoke mayor’s race; provisional ballots still outstanding

Democrat Joe Cobb has taken the lead in the Roanoke mayoral race over Republican David Bowers by 46 votes after absentee ballots delivered in person on Election Day and mail ballots that arrived by Friday were counted. Updated numbers were released early Friday evening. 

Late Tuesday night, Bowers held a 19-vote lead over Cobb that shrank to 11 votes the next day. 

There are still more than 1,200 provisional ballots to be counted — many of them same-day registrations. 

“A provisional ballot is offered to a voter when further research is required to confirm their eligibility to vote,”  Nicholas Ocampo, director of elections and general registrar, said in a statement that the process of counting provisional ballots takes extra steps to verify voter eligibility. “This year’s election is evidence that every vote counts.” Same-day registration was enacted in 2022 in Virginia.

Ocampo could not be immediately reached Friday afternoon.

Ocampo previously stated that the Monday following the election is the deadline for registrars to finish verifying provisional ballots. Local electoral boards across the commonwealth have a deadline of Nov. 15 to certify the results of the election. 

Bowers had previously already declared himself as “mayor-elect” after Tuesday night, with more than 1,200 votes left to be counted — to which Cobb said that he was not. 

In a statement Friday evening, Cobb thanked Ocampo and his staff for their “diligent work continuing the certification process of this election.”

“With hundreds of ballots yet to be counted, I want to underscore the significance of every vote being counted accurately,” the statement said. “While today’s ballot count indicates a small lead, I want to remind everyone that the election results are not yet final and won’t be until all votes have been counted and the election is certified by the electoral board on November 15.”

Since Virginia started allowing same-day registration in 2022 and counting mail ballots that arrive before noon on the Friday following the election, there have been instances like this where election night results change. 

It happened in a House of Delegates race in Montgomery and Roanoke counties last year.

Bowers on Friday evening said that while as a lawyer himself, there’s no evidence of illegality, he thinks the process is “fishy.” When asked to clarify, Bowers said, “I said what I’ve said. Take it or leave it.”