New election ordered in N.C. race
Republican drops bid to be ruled winner, denies wrongdoing
RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s elections board Thursday ordered a new election in the nation’s last undecided congressional race after the Republican candidate conceded his lead was tainted by evidence of ballot-tampering by political operatives working for him.
The State Board of Elections voted 5-0 in favor of a do-over in the mostly rural 9th Congressional District but did not immediately set a date.
In moving to order a new election, board chairman Bob Cordle cited “the corruption, the absolute mess with the absentee ballots.”
“Today was a great step forward for democracy in North Carolina,” the Democrat in the race, Dan Mccready, tweeted afterward. He said the voters deserved justice “from the moment the first voice was silenced by election fraud.”
The vote came after GOP candidate Mark Harris, in a surprising turn, dropped his bid to be declared the winner and instead called for a new election. He reversed course on the fourth day of an election board hearing at which investigators and witnesses detailed evidence of ballot fraud by operatives on his payroll.
Harris denied any knowledge of the illegal practices allegedly used by his operatives.
Harris left the hearing room without answering questions. It was not immediately clear whether he intends to run in a new election.
The decision Thursday could leave the seat empty for months. The elections board’s attorney plans to review the laws on scheduling new primaries and a new general election and propose dates to the elections board for its approval.
Harris led Mccready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast last fall in a district that includes part of Charlotte and extends eastward through several counties along the southern edge of the state. But the state refused to certify the outcome as allegations surfaced that Harris political operative Leslie Mccrae Dowless may have tampered with mail-in absentee ballots.
Harris told the board that he is still dealing from health problems caused by a blood infection that landed him in a hospital and led to two strokes since the election, adding, “I struggled this morning with both recall and confusion.”