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After months of insisting he knew of no illegal activity being done on behalf of his campaign, Republican Mark Harris, who leads the race for North Carolina's 9th Congressional District, called Thursday for the State Board of Elections to hold a new election.
The bipartisan state board voted unanimously shortly after his statement to redo the only congressional race left from the 2018 midterms that remains undecided.
"Through the testimony I've listened to over the past three days I believe a new election should be called. It's 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," said Harris.
It was a dramatic and humbling reversal for Harris, a pastor who until now had insisted that the elections board should certify his 905 vote lead in the unofficial tally so that he could take a seat in Congress.
Four days of hearings had left that position increasingly untenable as witnesses detailed how an operative hired by Harris illegally handled absentee ballots, a felony in North Carolina. One witness said she filled in unmarked sections of ballots. Harris' own son testified on Wednesday that he had warned his father that the operative's tactics were likely illegal.
An email first released to the public on Thursday shows that Harris requested to the operative, McRae Dowless, in March 2017 after losing a primary election in which one of his opponents had hired Dowless.
The disclosure by the Harris campaign frustrated investigators, who were presented with the evidence only on Wednesday, despite a subpoena from the North Carolina State Board of Elections for the relevant documents months ago.
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/21/696561080/email-shows-n-c-gop-candidate-sought-out-operative-accused-of-illegal-ballot-sch
The bipartisan state board voted unanimously shortly after his statement to redo the only congressional race left from the 2018 midterms that remains undecided.
"Through the testimony I've listened to over the past three days I believe a new election should be called. It's 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," said Harris.
It was a dramatic and humbling reversal for Harris, a pastor who until now had insisted that the elections board should certify his 905 vote lead in the unofficial tally so that he could take a seat in Congress.
Four days of hearings had left that position increasingly untenable as witnesses detailed how an operative hired by Harris illegally handled absentee ballots, a felony in North Carolina. One witness said she filled in unmarked sections of ballots. Harris' own son testified on Wednesday that he had warned his father that the operative's tactics were likely illegal.
An email first released to the public on Thursday shows that Harris requested to the operative, McRae Dowless, in March 2017 after losing a primary election in which one of his opponents had hired Dowless.
The disclosure by the Harris campaign frustrated investigators, who were presented with the evidence only on Wednesday, despite a subpoena from the North Carolina State Board of Elections for the relevant documents months ago.
https://www.npr.org/2019/02/21/696561080/email-shows-n-c-gop-candidate-sought-out-operative-accused-of-illegal-ballot-sch