Voters gave an early lead Tuesday night to Bonnie Hauser in a contested runoff election against a former board member in the Orange County Board of Education race.

Hauser had 1,969 votes to 1,297 votes for Jennifer Moore as of 8:45 p.m., with 12 of 17 precincts reporting, according to the state Board of Elections.

Moore resigned her board seat in mid-April amid questions about whether she has a doctorate. But her name remained on the May 14 runoff ballot, which already had been printed and mailed to absentee voters.

Early results Tuesday showed Moore won the absentee vote by a 3-1 margin. Hauser surged ahead in early voting results and early returns from Tuesday’s runoff election.

Moore cited “medical concerns” for her decision in her April 17 resignation email to board and district officials. The email was sent after The News & Observer called Moore about her reported doctorate from Bellevue University in Nebraska.

Bellevue University officials told The N&O they did not have a record of a student named “Jennifer Denise Moore.”

Moore posted a letter on her campaign website April 23 accepting “responsibility for not clarifying that I do not have a Ph.D.”

Why was a runoff necessary?

A state law enacted in 1977 set a threshold for victory by dividing the total number of votes cast by the number of open seats, and then dividing that number by two. The required threshold in the March election was 6,588 votes.

Moore came in third after incumbent board member Carrie Doyle and newcomer Wendy Padilla in the race for three seats, but she was 60 votes short of the threshold to win under state law.

Hauser, who came in fourth place with 482 fewer votes than Moore, sought a runoff.

This could be the last Orange County school board election held under those rules.

Democratic state Sen. Graig Meyer, who lives in Orange County, filed a bill this month that would change how winners are chosen in the nonpartisan Orange County Schools Board of Education race.

If Meyer’s bill becomes law, winners would be determined starting in 2026 by who gets the most votes.

What happens if Moore wins?

Moore can join the board again in July, or if she declines, the board could appoint someone to fill her seat until another election is held. Moore posted in late April on her now-defunct campaign website that she will not return to the board if she wins.