RED SPRINGS — The race to become the next mayor of Red Springs could not be closer.

Caroline Sumpter, a Red Springs commissioner who is currently the mayor pro tem, holds a one-vote lead over Commissioner Duron Burney after provisional ballots were counted by the Robeson County Board of Elections on Friday evening.

Sumpter has 360 votes as of the Friday evening update and Burney has 359. There were also four write-in ballots cast.

“As it stands right now, I’m holding the lead by one vote — a powerful reminder that every single vote matters,” Sumpter said in a Facebook post. “Never doubt that your voice and your ballot make a difference.”

The election-night tally saw Sumpter with a three-vote lead, with 352 votes to Burney’s 349. Sumpter then added eight provisional ballots and Burney a

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