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Our e-mail conversation was slightly modified. below.
Cillizza: Let's just start: what is the problem with the ballots in Bladen County and what do we know now?
Bruno: The North Carolina Bipartite Board of Elections and Ethics Investigates "Allegations of Fraudulent Circumstances and Activities Related to Mail-in Voting for Absentees" and potentially to other issues at the 9th Congressional District Competition ".
The board of directors is composed of four Republicans, four Democrats and one unaffiliated member. The first vote to investigate the claims and not to certify the results was unanimous. The second vote was 7-2, with two Republicans voting no. At this point, all of the Board's discussions were held in camera so that the details of the irregularities remain unclear. The documents I got shed more light on what happened.
. Cillizza: Who is Leslie McCrae Dowless – and what do we know about his role in the Harris campaign? 19659012] Bruno: Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. is Vice President of the Soil and Water Conservation District of Bladen County, an elected position. He is also a voter with a criminal past. His criminal record dates back to the 1980s and '90s. He was found guilty of passing a worthless check, perjury fraud and crime. He served six months behind bars. As I mentioned, the name of McCrae came to light because of the affidavits. An affidavit claims to have heard that McCrae would be paid $ 40,000 if Mark Harris won. In another affidavit, a person claims that McCrae told him that he was "absent" for Mark Harris and Jim McVicker, the Bladen County Sheriff. The affidavit also states that McCrae had 80 people working for him from Cumberland to Charlotte.
McCrae is well known in the political circles of Bladen County. The campaign's financial reports show that his political involvement dates back to at least 2010, when he was working for a candidate for the Bladen County District Lawyer position. The majority of the payments that were made to him related to efforts to "take out the vote". The candidate he was working for won Bladen County. Over the next few years, candidates from eastern North Carolina paid thousands of dollars to McCrae to allow them to withdraw from the elections. But he has not only worked for candidates from East of North Carolina. The records show that he was paid $ 800 by a Charlotte city council candidate, Pete Givens, for "consulting fees." Givens and Harris are close friends. According to Charlotte Observer, Harris reportedly introduced Givens to McCrae.
McCrae was not always part of Mark Harris's team. The campaign's financial records show that McCrae worked for Todd Johnson in the 2016 Republican primary for the 9th district. Johnson ran against incumbents Robert Pittenger and Harris. Johnson finished last in the primary but first in Bladen County. Further examination of the votes shows that Johnson received 98% of absentee votes by mail with a total of 221. Mark Harris received four votes. Incumbent Robert Pittenger Received a Vote
In 2018, McCrae was hired by Red Dome, a political advisory firm working for the Harris Campaign in the suburbs of Charlotte. The company has received at least $ 428,000 from the Harris campaign. Disbursements are indicated for the administration, the staff and the base. In 2018, Harris got more than four absentee votes by mail in Bladen County. Similar to Johnson, Harris recorded huge numbers of absentees by mail in the Bladen County Main Office. Harris received 437 of the 456 absentee votes by mail. The Pittenger incumbent received only 17.
In the general election against McCready, Harris obtained 61% of the votes cast by correspondence in Bladen County. Bladen was the only county in the 9th district where Harris had received more absentee votes than McCready. According to an analysis by Dr. Michael Bitzer of Catawba College, "In Bladen County, 61% of correspondence ballots accepted by correspondence were subject to a Republican regime – the only county to do so – which means that 20% of registered Republicans are loyal, who would have voted according to this method, Harris would also have received almost all unaffiliated registered voters and / or some Democratic registered voters to 62% of the vote. "
What was happening right here? As I mentioned before, affidavits claimed that people were looking for absentee ballots. A constituent who I interviewed and who did not sign an affidavit, Stacy Holcomb, told me that the woman who had picked up her ballot was wearing a Mark t-shirt. Harris.
It took several days, phone calls and visits to McCrae's home and office. Finally, yesterday, he passed his head by the side door and said "I do not comment, have a good day," while I asked questions over and over. He finally closed the door.
Cillizza: The two candidates are separated by just over 900 votes. Do we have any idea of the extent of the potential scam of postal votes?
Bruno: In addition to the NC-09, the NCSBE refused to certify two local races in Bladen and Robeson counties, giving us an idea of the scope. from the survey is. There were more than 3,400 unreturned correspondence ballots from Bladen and Robeson Counties. What happened to those votes? As I mentioned, one of the affidavits states that Dowless was working from Cumberland County to Charlotte. What has he done in these counties? We do not know It should be noted that, according to the law of the State, there must not be more fraud than the margin of victory for a new election to be ordered. A new election may be ordered if "irregularities or irregularities have arisen to the extent that they alter the results of an election and cast doubt on its fairness."
Cillizza: What is the remedy is established that Dowless has infringed
Bruno: According to Gerry Cohen, former special adviser to the General Assembly [North Carolina]if the NCSBE orders a new election, the same three candidates, Republican Mark Harris, Democrat Dan McCready and Libertarian Jeff Scott can only be replaced on the ballot if they leave the state. election, which means that there will be a new election, a primary election and a new general election.The federal law imposes a minimum of 45 days for absentee voting.The NCSBE provides for a hearing of the evidence at most. late on December 21. For when all g must end with. The NCSBE stated that they were aware of the date of the January 3 oath.
Cillizza: Finish this sentence: "When the 116th Congress meets in January, the 9th District of North Carolina will be represented by ____________?" Now, explain.
Bruno: My official answer is ¯ _ (ツ) _ / ¯.
If you ask other people who are following this closely, they will probably say the same thing. I will simply say this: the investigation does not seem to end any time soon. Every day he seems to take a new turn. It is possible that the 9th district will not be represented in January. In the current political context, it is clear that whoever will eventually represent the 9th district will have an asterisk bearing his name in the minds of many people.
Some other thoughts if you wish: I covered the 9th district race from the beginning. Many people thought that outgoing President Robert Pittenger was in the bag. Polls have made it grow. The victory of Mark Harris was considered by many to be a big surprise. So much so that many television stations did not have their primary election night until the results began to arrive and he seemed to want to win. The 9th district race was like many others that took place in 2018. The Republican candidate Harris is linked to President Donald Trump. His speech to the voters was to put him in power to continue the agenda of the president. Dan McCready led a Conor Lamb / Joe Cunningham style campaign. He promised not to vote for Nancy Pelosi. His speech to the voters was "country on party". Did the message sound? It seems like. Trump won the district by 12 points in 2016. McCready finished behind Harris with 905 votes.
