Sen. Phil Berger has requested a hand recount in the race for Senate District 26 in North Carolina, where Sam Page currently holds a 23-vote lead over Berger. The race spans Guilford and Rockingham Counties, and both boards of elections conducted machine recounts this week. Berger is now alleging that ballots are being handled differently in the two involved counties, raising equal protection concerns under both United States and North Carolina law. During the machine recount process, two voters whose votes had previously been counted were disenfranchised because their votes were deemed undervotes when scanned by a different counting machine. Berger has now requested a review by the N.C. State Board of Elections to determine if voter intent can be determined.