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Republican Mark Harris said Tuesday he would not participate in the new North Carolina 9th Congressional Congressional elections, citing his "extremely serious" health status.
This decision comes just days after the North Carolina Election Council unanimously voted in favor of a new election after the District House race from 2018 was tainted by fraud charges by ballot.
THE NORTH CAROLINA ELECTION COUNCIL CALLS A NEW ELECTION IN THE DISPUTE HOME RACE
"After consulting with my doctors, there are several things that my health situation requires because of the extremely serious condition that I was facing in mid-January," Harris said in a statement. "One of them is a necessary operation that is now scheduled for the last week of March."
Harris added: "I decided not to table the new election for District 9 of Congress."
Last week, Harris, who had outsmarted Dan McCready's 905-seat Democrat in the race to challenge, said in court that he had suffered two strokes since the elections and that he was struggling "to get through the hearing.
McCready said that he would run again.
In his statement Tuesday, Harris supported Stony Rushing, Commissioner of the Union County.
"The Republican Party of North Carolina fully supports Harris's decision," said Republican President of North Carolina Robin Hayes. "The most important thing he has to deal with is his health, this process has been trying for everyone, and we unequivocally support his call for a new election."
Last week, Harris acknowledged that a new election is expected to take place after several days of testimony during a hearing on the handling of ballots.
"I believe that a new election should be called," Harris said. "It has become clear to me that public trust in the 9th district has been undermined to such an extent that a new election is warranted."
In his sworn testimony, Harris stated that political agent and convicted Leslie McCrae Dowless was convinced that campaigners would never collect mail ballots, despite the concerns of his son, John, whom Dowless collected and returned illegally ballot papers. the electors.
According to a survey by the Elections Committee, one of the methods used by Dowless was to hire workers to collect the ballots from the voters who received them and then hand them over to them.
The state election law prohibits anyone other than a guardian or a close family member from handling postal ballots. The Harris team had initially stated in a legal briefing submitted to the Elections Council last week that it should certify its choice – no matter what Dowless did for the campaign.
Harris's comments calling for a new election come a day after his son spoke to face emotional testimony that left his father in tears.
"I launched red flags at the time the decision was made to hire Mr. Dowless," said John Harris in his testimony Wednesday.
David Lewkowict, Andrew O'Reilly and the Fox News Associated Press contributed to this report.
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