A reconstituted North Carolina elections board received a private preview Thursday of what investigators uncovered in their probe of absentee ballot irregularities in the country’s last unresolved congressional race. Chairman Bob Cordle said the new five-member State Board of Elections received a “full briefing” on findings in the 9th Congressional District race. The members met behind closed doors with attorneys and investigators for nearly four hours. Cordle said the findings will be released publicly at a hearing Feb. 18. He said the board will vote at the hearing’s close on whether to certify the 9th District results, order a new election or take some other step.
Unofficial results show Republican Mark Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. A previous iteration of the board refused to certify Harris as the winner due to the potential absentee ballot fraud. Four of the five members on the board — composed of three Democrats and two Republicans — would need to agree a new election is necessary.
Attorneys for Harris and his campaign committee also asked the board this week to issue subpoenas compelling 20 different witnesses to attend the hearing and give testimony. Those being sought include McCready, a political operative named McCrae Dowless, and more than 10 people whose testimony about their voting experiences in the 9th District was submitted previously in affidavits.
Full Article: New board gets private preview of Congressional race probe.