Prosecutor signals more charges to come in NC

The political operative at the center of allegations of ballot-tampering in a congressional race in North Carolina has been indicted on seven felonies, the start of what is expected to grow into one of the most sweeping criminal investigations ever of fraud in a federal election.

Leslie McCrae Dowless, who worked for Mark Harris, the Republican nominee in the state's 9th Congressional District last year, was arrested and charged with three counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two counts of possession of absentee ballots, according to the Wake County district attorney's office in Raleigh.

The charges reflect a swift transition to the criminal phase of an investigation of mail-in ballot irregularities in the 9th District, following hearings last week before the State Board of Elections.

The board voted unanimously to throw out the November results between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready after hearing voluminous accounts that Dowless had led a scheme to tamper with absentee ballots.

Harris, an evangelical minister from Charlotte, had led by 905 votes in unofficial results from November. Citing ill health, he announced Tuesday that he would not run in the new election, which has not been scheduled yet.