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New election ordered in North Carolina race at center of fraud inquiry

New Election Ordered in North Carolina Race at Center of Fraud Inquiry
New Election Ordered in North Carolina Race at Center of Fraud Inquiry

RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina officials on Thursday ordered a new contest in the 9th Congressional District after the Republican candidate, confronted by evidence that his campaign had financed an illegal voter-turnout effort, called for a new election.

The unanimous ruling by the five-member Board of Elections was a startling — and, for Republicans, embarrassing — conclusion to a case that has convulsed North Carolina since November.

And it followed testimony that outlined how a political operative had orchestrated an absentee ballot scheme to try to sway the race in favor of Mark Harris, the Republican candidate. It is now the single undecided House contest in last year’s midterms.

Robert Cordle, the state board’s chairman, cited “the corruption, the absolute mess with the absentee ballots” when he called for a new election. “It was certainly a tainted election,” he said.

Harris had a 905-vote lead over his Democratic opponent, Dan McCready, but his success in Bladen County — where he won 61 percent of absentee ballots even though Republicans there accounted for just 19 percent of them — alarmed regulators.

When he finally took the stand Thursday morning, Harris denied knowing of any wrongdoing in the voter-turnout effort led by L. McCrae Dowless Jr., a veteran political operative known as a local “guru of elections.”

But in a series of questions, Harris stumbled and appeared to mislead the board. When he returned to the crowded courtroom after a lunch recess, he asked whether he could read a statement. He apologized to the board and explained that recent medical issues, including two strokes, had impaired his abilities and recall.

And then he asked for a new election.

“It’s become clear to me that the public’s confidence in the 9th District’s general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted,” Harris said to audible gasps.

Harris’ surprise announcement represented an abrupt collapse of the Republican effort to stave off a new vote in the 9th District, which includes part of Charlotte and runs through much of southeastern North Carolina.

McCready said, “Today was a great step forward for democracy in North Carolina.”

Robin Hayes, the chairman of the North Carolina Republican Party, said the party supported Harris’ decision “on behalf of the voters.”

This article originally appeared in The New York Times.

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