$344 Million Powerball Jackpot Won in North Carolina, By a Single Ticket
The Powerball jackpot has been won in North Carolina, by a single player. The mystery winner will lay claim to the entire $344 million prize, though they have not yet come forward to reveal themselves.
The winning Powerball numbers for the Saturday, June 1 draw were 6, 15, 34, 45 and 52, with a Powerball of 8. Only one person countrywide matched all five main numbers and the Powerball to win the jackpot, and no one matched all five main numbers to win the second prize of $1 million. In North Carolina, no one won a prize from the second or third prize tier.
Sixth Powerball Win in North Carolina
The jackpot-winning ticket was sold at Carlie C’s grocery store, on North Main St in Hope Mills, NC. It is the largest single-ticket Powerball win in North Carolina’s 13-year Powerball history, and the sixth time a Powerball jackpot has been won in the Old North State.
The identity of the ticket-holder remains a mystery, as they have not yet come forward to claim their winnings. In North Carolina, there is a 180-day deadline to collect any lottery winnings, from the date of the win. If the prize is not collected within those 180 days, 50 per cent is returned to the prize pool and 50 per cent goes to the Education Fund.
The Executive Director for the N.C. Education Lottery, Mark Michalko, was asked to comment on the historic Powerball win. “This is a life-changing event and we’re excited that someone in North Carolina won this jackpot. Our advice to the winner is to sign that ticket to establish your ownership of it and then secure it in a safe place. Then, take your time and put together a plan with the help of financial and legal advisers for how you would like to claim your prize.”
Anonymity in North Carolina
North Carolina is one of many states that do not allow lottery winners to remain anonymous when claiming their prize. The prevailing logic for requiring players to reveal their identities is transparency; giving a face and a name to a Powerball win could reassure the public that draws aren’t rigged, and act as evidence the lottery is running as it should. However, concerns for the safety of lottery winners have caused an upwelling in support for laws protecting their identities.
There are currently 12 states that allow lottery winners to preserve their identities by law, with Arizona and Virginia joining the ranks within a month of one another in early 2019. Despite the recent upwelling of support for such laws, there are still detractors; North Carolina’s House of Representatives considered an anonymity bill in 2015, but it didn’t gain enough traction to pass.
So, for now, lottery winners in North Carolina must reveal their name, city and county of residence – meaning when the Hope Mills Powerball winner comes forward to claim, their identity will no longer be a mystery.