[ad_1]
A prominent Democrat threatened on Tuesday not to call the Republican winner in a race to the very close competition at North Carolina House when the new Congress would take office in January, citing allegations of "fraudulent activity" serious "involving a possible collection of ballots.
Election in the state The officials unanimously refused to certify the results of the race on Friday and could call for new elections, which could erase what is unofficially 905 votes, led by Republican Mark Harris on Democrat Dan McCready in the fight for the 9th congressional district. The margin is less than half a percentage point of the total votes cast.
The representative of the new majority, Steny Hoyer, D-Md., Said on Tuesday that a "very important question" on fraud was weighing on the Republican seat race. held since 1963.
"The House … has the power to decide the proper conduct of elections," Hoyer said. "It is a very important matter. [It] should be resolved before serving on any of our members."
The hubbub highlights the extremely different laws of states governing the collection of ballots, which refers to the practice of someone else that a filer this ballot from the voter in a polling station.
Two years ago, California Governor Jerry Brown signed AB1921, which now allows anyone – including political agents – to collect and return ballots in that state. Previously, only the elector or close family members could perform this service.
FILE – In this November 7, 2018 photo, Mark Harris speaks to the media at a news conference in Matthews, North Carolina. The last congressional race in the fall with Harris against Democrat Dan McCready is in doubt as election investigators in North Carolina focus on a rural county where allegations of mail-order fraud are so egregious that they questioned the result of polling day. (AP Photo / Chuck Burton, File)
Since then, Republicans have openly implied that this practice resulted in serious irregularities in the vote in California, where the GOP lost seats in several fiefdoms, with the votes still counted well after the day of the election. ballot.
But in North Carolina, current law prohibits anyone other than an elector or a close family member from posting or depositing his or her ballot.
The Election Committee has assigned documents from the Harris Campaign and is focusing on activities related to McCrae Dowless, a long-time political officer in Bladen County. Harris campaign lawyer John Branch confirmed Tuesday that Dowless was working as a subcontractor for Harris's chief strategy strategist.
Ginger Eason, a constituent in North Carolina, told WSOC-TV on Monday that Dowless had paid her between $ 75 and over and $ 100 to collect the mail ballots in the 9th district.
"I helped McCrae recover the ballots," Eason said.
In Democratic Party affidavits, voters described a woman going to their homes to collect their ballot papers. the postal ballots, whether they have been correctly completed or not.
Bladen County is the only county in the district where Harris won the majority of the postal votes, according to unofficial data on the elections. Bladen and Robeson County – where officials also asked for information – the district had the highest percentages of non-returned postal ballots.
Blanden also registered requests for a postal ballot from 7.5% of registered voters, more than double the rate of virtually every other county in the state. In Blanden, just over 60 percent of the ballots returned were for Harris, although less than 20 percent of registered Republicans sent ballot papers to the county on polling day.
NEW RULE FOR ROUT GOP IN CALIFORNIA
Allegations of Apparent Irregularities Related to Mail-Order Voting Also Arisen Two Years Ago in Blanden County 39, a tight election of the governor.
If the allegations are accurate, the biggest fraud of absenteeism for a generation or two in North Carolina, "said Gerry Cohen, Electoral Law Expert and former long-time legislative staff lawyer. North Carolina has a long history of this sort of thing, especially in rural areas. "
Dowless, who served a prison sentence in 1995 for fraudulent fraud and was convicted of felony perjury in 1992, worked on its release. -vote the efforts of various local and legislative candidates over the years.
Dowless relied on an election event, then backed by the then Governor's campaign, the Pat McCrory gop , which alleged a "gigantic project"
FILE – In this September 26, 2018 photo archive, Democratic congressional candidate Dan McCready leans against the wall while he pauses at a Habitat For Humanity construction event in Charlotte, North Carolina. The unresolved Fall congress race between McCready and Republican Mark Harris casts doubt over doubt as election investigators in North Carolina focus on a rural county where allegations of vote fraud by The correspondence is so flagrant that they questioned the result of polling day. (AP Photo / Chuck Burton, File)
But the board of directors sparked panic in Dowless with questions about its own mail-order voting activities. Dowless acknowledged that he had hired people in 2016 to urge voters to submit the mail ballot application forms, which is legal. In his affidavit, Dowless stated that he had never processed or completed the ballots. The commission rejected Dowless's protest, but sent all its evidence to local and federal prosecutors.
Visited by an Associated Press reporter on Tuesday at his home in Bladenboro, Dowless declined to comment. He stated that the voice on the speaker in his hand was that of a lawyer advising him to refuse to describe his electoral activities.
"This is a very important matter. [It] should be resolved before sitting on any of our members."
The Election Committee announced that it would hold a hearing on the allegations on December 21 or before. Committee members may call for a new election if they find enough problems could have changed the outcome or cast doubt on the fairness of the elections. An election would be held long after the new session of Congress was held on January 3, which would likely create a temporary vacancy.
Republican leaders argue that Harris, a Southern Baptist minister, should be certified winner, saying no evidence has been made public so far. shows that he did not get the greatest number of legal votes.
"The campaign has not been aware of any illegal behavior related to the 9th district race," Branch said in a statement.
Andrew O of Fox News & Reilly and the Associated Press contributed to this report.
Source link
