Fri. Mar 29th, 2024

From today’s NBC News Online:

The North Carolina Board of Elections on Thursday ordered a new election in the 9th Congressional District after allegations of illegal activity in the handling of mail-in ballots.

The five-member board’s unanimous action came after several days of hearings into Republican ballot-collecting practices in the 2018 general election.

Their decision was made after the GOP candidate, Mark Harris, surprisingly suggested Thursday that there should be a new election because the public had lost confidence in the results. On Election Day Harris had narrowly topped Democrat Dan McCready in unofficial results.

“Through the testimony I listened to over the past three days, I believe a new election should be called. It’s become clear to me that the public’s confidence in the ninth district seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted,” Harris said.

It was a dramatic turn for Harris who had been aggressively defending himself throughout the months-long investigation and the four-day hearing, insisting that he had no knowledge of fraudulent activity involving absentee ballots in two rural counties in the ninth district.

Harris made his declaration one day after his son, John Harris, testified that he warned his father of the possible illegal tactics political operative McCrae Dowless used in an absentee ballot operation. Harris hired him anyway, saying on the stand that it was his son’s “opinion” about Dowless but that he was assured that Dowless worked within the confines of the law. He insisted that he that he had no knowledge of alleged illegal activities regarding mail-in ballots.

But Harris was at risk of perjuring himself during his testimony over a discussion he had with his son about emails being used as evidence. He said from the witness stand that he did not discuss the emails with anyone ahead of the hearing. After he said that, his attorney, David Friedman, immediately asked to speak to his client behind closed doors. The board agreed, called for a lunch break and then went into closed session. When they returned, Harris corrected the record.

Read the complete article here.

By Editor