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From Leigh Ann Caldwell, Rich Gardella and Ben Kamisar
WASHINGTON – McCrae Dowless, the man whose "pulling the vote" activities are at the center of L & # An investigation into election fraud in North Carolina revealed to a volunteer in the local political campaign that he had 800 postal ballots, according to a new affidavit obtained by NBC News.
The new affidavit is the latest development of an investigation into an election ballot voting fraud that postponed the certification of the election of the ninth congressional race of the district and of the minus two local races in the state of Tar Heel.
In the signed statement, Kenneth Simmons stated that he had met Dowless at a local Republican party meeting at the small town of Dublin, located in Bladen County, the epicenter of investigation for electoral fraud involving postal ballots.
During this conversation, Simmons wrote that his wife and himself had seen Dowless with a large
Simmons stated that he had asked Dowless why he had so many ballots and that Dowless had replied that he kept over 800. Simmons wrote that he "asked him why he had not turned them in" and that Dowless replied, "you will not do it before the last day because the opposition will know how many votes it will have to win. "
" My concern, "concluded Simmons at the end of his affidavit. [Thatisthesebulletinswerenotgoingtobe"
Simons signed the affidavit on December 11 and confirmed his account with NBC News when he was telephoned to his home on Tuesday.
North Carolina State Elections Council investigation into potential fraudulent activities in Bladen County takes stock of Dowless.
Last week, the state election office published a copy of a tape of election results printed at the only place of the advance vote in person of Bladen County on the Saturday before the election.To tabulate preliminary preliminary results constitutes a violation of the electoral law of The State.
In a separate affidavit dated November 29 and distributed to the media by the Democratic Party of North Carolina and other sources, a person named Agnes Willis states that the recording was "passed after the closing of the polls, and was watched by single place officials who were not [poll] judges. "
Dowless and a partner have applied for nearly 800 ballots by correspondence, according to documents previously issued by the Election Committee and analyzed by NBC News, of the partners he allegedly paid, would collect the ballot papers in Bladen and nearby Robeson County.
In her alleged affidavit, Willis, identified as an employee of the City by the Charlotte Observer, does not name or describe the "officials" that she claims to have viewed the results Partials
The election results document itself contains a signature for "Agnes Willis", one of three signatures under a statement The complete results constitute "a faithful and accurate account of the elections which took place on November 6, 2018. "Willis' affidavit does not address this detail.
This evolution led a senior NC Party official to" support "a new election in the ninth district of the Congress of the state. the State Elections Council is investigating allegations of fraudulent irregularities and activities related to the postal correspondence ballot and, possibly, other issues relevant to this race, and not has not certified the results of the elections originally communicated.
The Republican won over 61% of the Bladen. The county postal ballots, a puzzling margin considering that only 19% of the accepted postal ballots belonged to registered Republican voters.
This evolution led a senior NC Party official to "presumably" support a new election in the ninth state. Congressional district, which was not certified by the state's Election Council while investigating the so-called ballot collection scheme, which is illegal in North Carolina.
"We are extremely concerned that advance poll totals may have been disclosed in Bladen County as reported by The Charlotte Observer," said Robin Hayes, chairman of the Republican Party of North Carolina, in a statement. A press release. by the election officials would be a fundamental violation of the sense of fair play, honesty and integrity that the Republican Party defends, "said Hayes.
At a conference On Tuesday, the leader of the Democratic Party of North Carolina asked why Harris decided to hire Dowless.
"McCrae Dowless has long been running a well-documented mail voting fraud. Still, Mark Harris has always hired him, "said Tuesday the Democratic Party chairman, North Carolina, Wayne Goodwin, at a press conference in Raleigh. "And now, Harris refuses to answer several questions about their relationship."
Dowless was hired by the Red Dome consulting group, who worked for Harris, for local efforts in Bladen County.
Harris issued a video statement on Friday on Twitter, which stated that his campaign was cooperating fully and that he was unaware of the existence of the wrongdoing.
Meanwhile, the panel of three judges in a North Carolina lawsuit between the state's Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper, leaders of his Republican-majority legislature Tuesday issued an order extending to # 39; at 12 o'clock the current Council of elections and enforcement of the state of North Carolina. Friday, December 28, 2018.
The Bureau investigates allegations of "irregularities and fraudulent activities related to postal correspondence voting and, possibly, other matters at the 9th Competition" Congress District ".
In its order, the court wrote that the council "is still engaged in the process of certifying the results of the parliamentary elections of November 2018" and that "the fact of not extending the suspension for an additional period risks impede the effective resolution of outstanding issues prior to the Risk of confusing November election results and negatively affecting the confidence of North Carolina residents in the outcome of these elections.
The previous stay only extended on December 12th. [19659031] Leigh Ann Caldwell
