North Carolina’s New State Board of Elections voted Thursday to Order a New Election in the disputed 9th Congressional District, where No Winner was Declared in the 2018 Midterms amid Fraud Allegations of Tainted and Lost Absentee Ballots.
The Board voted Unanimously to call a New House Race after Hearing Testimony that the November Election between Mark Harris (R) and Dan McCready (D) was Tainted by a Scheme to Collect and Mark Voters’ Absentee Ballots for Republicans and Destroy Absentee Ballots marked for Democrats.
The Board’s Vote came an hour after Harris called for a New Election and then Declined to Finish his Own Testimony, citing Health Reasons. North Carolina will Set Dates for the New Election, including a New Primary, at a subsequent Meeting.
The State Legislature Passed a New Law last year Requiring a Primary in an Election Do-Over, instead of just Matching up McCready and Harris again. The Move was Originally seen as an Attempt by the North Carolina GOP to Distance itself from Harris and Open the Door to a Different Republican Candidate. But as the Months dragged on, the Local GOP Rallied behind Harris.
Yet on Thursday, Harris Reversed Weeks of GOP Resistance to a New North Carolina Race, Hours after State Officials said that Harris' Campaign Attorney Withheld Documents relevant to the Investigation. Harris’ Campaign Attorney said it was Not Intentional. Harris' Campaign Attorney, John Branch, said he Mistakenly believed the Documents did Not fall Under the Subpoena. "I'm here to own that," Branch said, adding that he did Not Think to ask Harris' Campaign Manager or other Campaign Employees Paid by the Consulting Firm Red Dome Group to turn over Records.
The Revelation drew the ire of the Election Board Chairman, Bob Cordle, who called Branch's actions "unacceptable." Marc Elias, the Attorney for Democrat Dan McCready, Requested an "adverse inference" from the Board, but barring that, he said, the Board should Subpoena Harris' Campaign Manager and other Employees whose Records were not Searched under the Original Subpoena. “I’m hearing a lot of parsing about what records were searched and what records weren’t searched,” Elias said. "We're going to have to expand our witness list."
"Through the testimony I've listened to over the last three days, I believe a new election should be called,” Harris said Thursday Afternoon, after the Board Returned from a Lunch Break and Closed Session. “It has become clear to me that the public's confidence in the 9th District seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted." "Neither I nor any of the leadership in my campaign were aware of or condone the improper activities that have been testified to in this hearing," Harris said.
The saga had left Residents of the 9th Congressional District without a Representative in Washington. Harris led McCready on Election Night by Fewer than a Thousand Votes in the Unofficial Count, but the Old Election Board Refused to Certify the Results, instead Launching an Investigation into Allegations of Fraud against Leslie McCrae Dowless, a Political Operative Paid by the Harris Campaign.
The Investigation culminated in Four Days of Hearings this week Detailing the alleged Collection and Marking of Voters' Absentee Ballots by Dowless and Operatives Paid by him.
In a dramatic twist on Wednesday, Harris' Son took the Stand unexpectedly and provided Documents showing that he had Warned his Father about Dowless, the Operative at the Center of the Election Fraud Scandal. When Harris Testified Thursday Morning, he said he took his Son’s Comments at the time to be a Basic Concerns about Dowless, but not an Outright Warning.
Harris said he did Not consider his Son’s Concerns to be a Warning but a simple “family conversation. I didn't take it as a major warning [of] danger ahead," Harris said of his Son’s Emails telling him to be Wary of Dowless in April 2017.
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