by Evie Fordham
North Carolina’s Board of Elections unanimously ordered a new election in the state’s 9th Congressional District due to “corruption” and “illegal activity… involving absentee ballots” after four days of hearings that drew to a close Thursday.
The board decided that neither Republican Mark Harris nor Democrat Dan McCready gained victory in the 2018 midterm election after allegations that Harris campaign operatives illegally harvested ballots, reported Politico Thursday.
The race was the only 2018 midterm election that had not been certified. Harris, a former pastor, had an unofficial lead of roughly 900 votes.
The board came to a decision after Harris testified and said a new election was needed.
“Through the testimony I’ve listened to over the last three days, I believe a new election should be called,” Harris said. “It has become clear to me that the public’s confidence in the 9th District seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted.”
Harris’s son, 29-year-old John Harris, had testified Wednesday that he had warned his father about a “shady” political operative.
That operative was McCrae Dowless, who worked for the Harris campaign as a contractor through the political consulting firm Red Dome Group. Dowless orchestrated an illegal ballot-harvesting operation in the 2018 election, North Carolina’s elections director Kim Strach said at a hearing Monday.
It is unclear whether Harris will run again. Also unclear: the timing and exact process for the new election, according to ABC News.
“The State Board will set the dates of the election at a subsequent meeting,” the board wrote on Twitter Thursday afternoon.
Mark Harris said he is not up to testify due to complications from his recent hospitalization. He says based on testimony over the past couple days it is clear the evidence is tainted. He called for a new election and left #NC09 @wsoctv pic.twitter.com/KPcOmJRXLx
— Joe Bruno (@JoeBrunoWSOC9) February 21, 2019
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Evie Fordham is a reporter for the Daily Caller News Foundation. Follow Evie on Twitter.
Photo “Mark Harris” by Mark Harris.
