North Carolina orders new U.S. House election after 'tainted' vote
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North Carolina's elections board Thursday ordered a new election for a U.S. House seat after officials said corruption surrounding absentee ballots tainted the results of a 2018 vote that has embarrassed the Republican Party.
The bipartisan board's 5-0 decision came after Republican candidate Mark Harris, confronted by days of evidence that an operative for his campaign orchestrated a ballot fraud scheme, called for a new vote in the U.S. Ninth Congressional District.
“It's become clear to me that the public's confidence in the Ninth District seat general election has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted,” Harris said on the fourth day of the hearing in Raleigh, the state capital.
U.S. President Donald Trump greets Mark Harris, Republican candidate from North Carolina's Ninth Congressional district, in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., October 26, 2018. /Reuters Photo

U.S. President Donald Trump greets Mark Harris, Republican candidate from North Carolina's Ninth Congressional district, in Charlotte, North Carolina, U.S., October 26, 2018. /Reuters Photo

Elections Board Chairman Bob Cordle said “the corruption” and “absolute mess” with absentee ballots had cast doubt on the entire contest.
“It certainly was a tainted election,” Cordle said. “The people of North Carolina deserve a fair election.”
State Republicans said they respected Harris' decision to resolve a “tremendously difficult situation.”
“The people of North Carolina deserve nothing less than the full confidence and trust in the electoral system,” party Chairman Robin Hayes said in a statement.
The race is the country's last unsettled 2018 congressional contest, and the outcome will not change the balance of power in the Democratic-controlled House of Representatives.
People cast their ballots for the 2016 general elections at a crowded polling station as early voting begins in Carrboro, North Carolina, U.S., October 20, 2016. /VCG Photo‍

People cast their ballots for the 2016 general elections at a crowded polling station as early voting begins in Carrboro, North Carolina, U.S., October 20, 2016. /VCG Photo‍

But evidence of ballot fraud by the Harris campaign turned the tables on the Republican Party, which has accused Democrats with little evidence of encouraging individual voter fraud in races such as the 2016 presidential election.
Harris' request for a new vote came as a surprise after he spent months trying to fend off a rerun. He led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes out of 282,717 ballots cast on November 6, but elections officials refused to certify him the winner because of allegations of irregularities in the vote.
The pastor capitulated after his son testified he had warned his father of the potentially illegal activity by Republican political operative Leslie McCrae Dowless.
North Carolina law requires that a new primary nominating election also be conducted in the district, which covers parts of Charlotte and the southeast of the state. Republicans have held the seat since 1963.
(Cover: Mark Harris waits to be introduced during a volunteer meeting and rally at the Ardmore Auditorium in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, April 8, 2014. /Reuters Photo)
Source(s): Reuters