Dan McCready (D) withdrew his concession in a North Carolina congressional race that has been roiled by accusations of fraud, the Washington Post reports. McCready also called on rival Mark Harris (R) “to tell the American people exactly what he knew and when he knew it.”
Disputed House race puts spotlight on 'ballot harvesting' https://www.wral.com/north-carolina-race-shines-light-on-ballot-harvesting-/18044856/ An investigation into whether political operatives in North Carolina illegally collected and possibly stole absentee ballots in a still-undecided congressional race has drawn attention to a widespread but little-known political tool called ballot harvesting. It's a practice long used by special-interest groups and both major political parties that is viewed either as a voter service that boosts turnout or a nefarious activity that subjects voters to intimidation and makes elections vulnerable to fraud. The groups rely on data showing which voters requested absentee ballots but have not turned them in. They then go door-to-door and offer to collect and turn in those ballots for the voters — often dozens or hundreds at a time. Some place ballot-collection boxes in high-concentration voter areas, such as college campuses, and take the ballots to election offices when the boxes are full. In North Carolina, election officials are investigating whether Republican political operatives in parts of the 9th Congressional District harvested ballots from minority voters and didn't deliver them to the election offices. In some cases they are accused of harvesting ballots that were not sealed and only partially filled out. Ballot harvesting is illegal under state law, which allows only a family member or legal guardian to drop off absentee ballots for a voter. Investigators are focusing on areas in the district where an unusually high number of absentee ballots were not returned. They want to know whether some ballots were not turned in as promised to the local elections office, were unsealed or only partially filled out. Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes, but the state elections board has refused to certify the results. The head of the state Republican Party said Thursday that he would be open to holding a new election if there is evidence of fraud. Supporters of ballot harvesting say they worry the North Carolina election may give an important campaign tool an unnecessary black eye. These groups see their mission as helping voters who are busy with work or caring for children, and empowering those who are sick, elderly and poor. Collecting ballots to turn in at a centralized voting hub also has been an important tool for decades on expansive and remote Native American reservations. "Sometimes we think of voting as this really straightforward process and we often forget that all voters, but for new voters in particular, there's a lot of confusion when voting about when they actually have to vote by, where they have to take their ballot to," said Rachel Huff-Doria, executive director of the voter advocacy group Forward Montana. Several states have tried to limit ballot harvesting by restricting who can turn in another person's ballot. In Arizona, a video that showed a volunteer dropping off hundreds of ballots at a polling place prompted a debate that led to an anti-ballot harvesting law in 2016. "I think at any level, Republican, Democrat or anything, it's wrong. It's a terrible practice," said former Arizona Republican Party chairman Robert Graham, who backed the law. "People should be responsible for their own votes." The Arizona law making it a felony in most cases to collect an early ballot was challenged in federal court before the 2016 election, and blocked by an appeals court. The U.S. Supreme Court stepped in and allowed the law to be enforced. Further challenges have so far been unsuccessful, most recently just before the midterm election. Montana was the latest state to pass an anti-ballot harvesting law when voters approved a referendum last month. Al Olszewski, a Republican state senator, said he proposed the ban after two of his constituents in northwestern Montana complained of pushy ballot collectors coming to their homes. "For a woman in her 70s that's maybe frail and lives alone and feels intimidated, at least now they can say please leave" and have confidence that the law is behind them, he said. Voting-rights advocates are dismayed that such laws are being passed without evidence of actual ballot fraud happening, at least before questions were raised about the activities in the North Carolina congressional race. They say restricting who can collect ballots punishes certain voters without doing anything to actually detect, deter or punish fraud. "If you have an honest person who is trying to help voters, then who they are doesn't matter as long as they return (the ballot)," said Myrna Perez, the deputy director of the Brennan Center for Justice's democracy program. California went in the opposite direction when it passed a law in 2016 to allow ballot harvesting. Republicans felt the new law's effects during this year's midterm elections after congressional districts that GOP candidates were leading on Election Day flipped to the Democrats when a flood of last-minute mail-in ballots were counted along with provisional ballots. The rout included several seats that had been held by Republicans in the former GOP stronghold of Orange County, where more than 250,000 mail-in ballots were turned in on Election Day. And in the agriculture-dominant Central Valley, Republican incumbents Jeff Denham and David Valadao saw their leads disappear after a tally of late-arriving ballots. Valadao, for example, had an initial lead of more than 7 percentage points, but Democrat T.J. Cox pulled ahead after winning 56 percent of the votes counted after Election Day. Republican House Speaker Paul Ryan described California's election system as "bizarre" in an interview with The Washington Post. California's situation underscored that ballot harvesting is an important tool for political parties. Orange County Republican Party Chairman Fred Whitaker wrote in a newsletter last month that Republicans must "develop a response to this new law that allows us to remain competitive." Even Olszewski, the sponsor of Montana's anti-ballot harvesting measure, acknowledges that laws such as his are unlikely to eliminate ballot harvesting completely. Such "micro-targeting" of voters when used with technology to identify individuals' political leanings has become too important and effective in get-out-the-vote efforts, he said. "I think the Democrats, they're the ones that figured it out and were far more successful in '18, in this election, than the Republicans ever were," he said. "The Republicans, what I'm hearing right now early on is, holy cow, we need to learn how to do this as good or better than the Democrats at harvesting ballots. We have the data."
“Republican state lawmakers in North Carolina have passed legislation that would allow the party to ditch Mark Harris in a new primary election for the 9th District seat if the state board of elections there decides to toss out the results of the Nov. 7 midterms,” Roll Call reports. “Now the bill sits on Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper’s desk.”
Yes... the circus continues. The ballot harvesting used in the general elections was also used in the primary. Note that Mark Harris is not the Republican party's preferred candidate. Incumbent Robert Pittenger, who lost in the primary, is the preferred candidate that was supported by the NC GOP. The NC Republican party wants to have a primary do-over so they can have Pittenger as their candidate instead of Harris. Pittenger is a moderate and would likely easily take the district if on the ballot. Harris IMO is a religious nut-case idiot.
The latest news.... as expected the Democrat controlled State Elections Board has deliberately failed to meet the dates for providing evidence of fraud in the 9th Congressional District election. They postponed hearings to be deliberately after Congress goes into session in January - despite being told by a panel of judges they must wrap everything up this week. As expected this as degenerated into pure partisan politics from each side. There is no rational thinking or any real attempt to address the alleged fraud or hold people accountable. The entire thing is just a political circus... GOP to NC elections board: Show evidence of fraud or certify 9th District election https://www.wral.com/gop-to-nc-elec...ud-or-certify-9th-district-election/18070660/ Republican leadership in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District called Monday on the State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement to certify results in the race despite an ongoing investigation of election irregularities. The call brings GOP leadership full circle in some ways: After initially calling for the board to certify Mark Harris' victory in the race, the state party's executive director last week all but called for a new election. Republican legislators passed a bill allowing for a new primary if a redo is needed. Since then, the state board has delayed the public hearing where it plans to lay out the results of its investigation. Once planned for no later than this Friday, it's now slated for Jan. 11. That's a week after the new Congress will be seated in Washington, D.C. The 9th District's executive committee said in its resolution that it supports the ongoing investigation, but the delay is acceptable "only if substantial public evidence is presented immediately to justify it." "The committee felt strongly it was a gross abuse of process to prevent the 9th from having a member in the new Congress without one piece of measurable public evidence presented before Jan. 3," North Carolina Republican Party Executive Director Dallas Woodhouse said in a text Monday. The 9th District's executive committee passed its resolution over the weekend, and the decision was unanimous, the resolution states. It was presented Monday as an open letter to Kim Strach, the state board's director, and Josh Lawson, the board's attorney. It was signed by 9th District's party chairman and vice chairwoman, John Steward and Susan Mills, as well as state party Chairman Robin Hayes and Vice Chairwoman Michele Nix. "The Board of Elections has failed to demonstrate in a timely manner the evidence regarding the allegations concerning the voting irregularities surrounding the Ninth Congressional District," the resolution states. "The lack of transparency is concerning ... If the State Board is unable to provide evidence the alleged voting irregularities would have changed the outcome of the race, they should immediately certify the results of the Ninth District Congressional contest." The state board has been looking into absentee ballot results, particularly in Bladen and Robeson counties, and the role a Harris consultant named McCrae Dowless played in those results. Interviews suggest Dowless may have coordinated a ballot harvesting operation, sending people door to door to collect ballots, which is illegal in North Carolina due to tampering concerns. There are also allegations that early voting results were tabulated early in Bladen County. If they were shared with one side over the other, that would create an advantage in last-minute turnout planning, and Woodhouse and Hayes said last week that alone would be enough to require a new election. The 9th District executive committee said in the resolution that, if results were leaked and used in a way that resulted in a substantial likelihood of changing the outcome of the race, then a new election is likely required. The committee also said the state board must either certify Harris as the winner or "show that any alleged voting irregularities changed the outcome of the race or there is a substantial likelihood it could have been changed." The state board has been looking into absentee ballot results, particularly in Bladen and Robeson counties, and the role a Harris consultant named McCrae Dowless played in those results. Interviews suggest Dowless may have coordinated a ballot harvesting operation, sending people door to door to collect ballots, which is illegal in North Carolina due to tampering concerns. There are also allegations that early voting results were tabulated early in Bladen County. If they were shared with one side over the other, that would create an advantage in last-minute turnout planning, and Woodhouse and Hayes said last week that alone would be enough to require a new election. The 9th District executive committee said in the resolution that, if results were leaked and used in a way that resulted in a substantial likelihood of changing the outcome of the race, then a new election is likely required. The committee also said the state board must either certify Harris as the winner or "show that any alleged voting irregularities changed the outcome of the race or there is a substantial likelihood it could have been changed." State law gives the board more leeway than that, not only allowing it to order a new election if irregularities amount to enough votes to swing an election but if it finds "irregularities or improprieties occurred to such an extent that they taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt on its fairness." The 9th District committee called on the board Monday to "hold a public hearing immediately and lay out the facts." "If the State Board of Elections can show substantial likelihood the alleged voting irregularities could have changed the race, then we fully support a new election," the committee said. "However, the standard for a new election must be high. The 285,000 people who cast legitimate ballots and the more than 750,000 people who will go unrepresented in Congress deserve to be heard." The state board said last week it needed to extend its investigation, in part, because it's waiting on entities that have been subpoenaed to provide requested information.
“North Carolina state election officials told federal prosecutors in January 2017 that they found evidence of efforts to manipulate the absentee ballot vote in rural Bladen County in the 2016 election and warned that such activities ‘will likely continue for future elections’ if not addressed,” the Washington Post reports. “Similar charges have roiled this year’s race in the 9th Congressional District between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready. Harris defeated McCready by just 905 votes, but the state board declined to certify the results amid allegations that fraud may have tainted the outcome.”
The Obama appointed U.S. Attorney John S. Bruce took no action on the letter from the N.C. State Board of Elections in January 2017. "The letter was actually sent to John S. Bruce, then acting U.S. Attorney for the district as the Trump Administration prepared to nominate a replacement. Bruce now works for the State Board, where he's an attorney in the investigations unit." "Higdon was confirmed to the U.S. Attorney's position at the end of September, 2017." State pointed US DOJ to "efforts to manipulate election results" in early 2017 The N.C. State Board of Elections warned the U.S. Department of Justice in early 2017 that "efforts to manipulate election results" in Bladen County would likely continue and asked the local U.S. Attorney to get involved. The January 2017 letter followed a public hearing the State Board held a month earlier that featured testimony from McCrae Dowless, the Bladen County man now at the center of multiple investigations into absentee ballot results in the 9th Congressional District and other southeast North Carolina races. "Our findings to date suggest that individuals and potentially groups of individuals engaged in efforts to manipulate election results through the absentee ballot process," state elections director Kim Strach said in the letter. "The evidence we have obtained suggest that these efforts may have taken place in the past and if not addressed will likely continue for future elections." That the State Board referred these issues to the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina in early 2017 was no secret. The vote to do so came in public, at the end of the December hearing. The State Board released the actual referral letter for the first time Friday. It's not clear what follow up the U.S. Attorney's Office pursued. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina Bobby Higdon's spokeswoman declined comment this week, and the Department of Justice typically doesn't confirm or deny the existence of investigations. The letter was actually sent to John S. Bruce, then acting U.S. Attorney for the district as the Trump Administration prepared to nominate a replacement. Bruce now works for the State Board, where he's an attorney in the investigations unit. (More at above url)
Oh so the Dem led panel which you said wasn't good enough did manage to do their jobs? Good of you to admit it.