Elections Director: ‘Coordinated, Unlawful’ Absentee Ballot Plot In NC 9th District

BLADENBORO, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 5: Leslie McCrae Dowless sits in his kitchen in Bladenboro, NC. Dowless who worked provide get-out-the-vote services for Republican candidate Mark Harris in North Carolinas 9th Co... BLADENBORO, UNITED STATES - DECEMBER 5: Leslie McCrae Dowless sits in his kitchen in Bladenboro, NC. Dowless who worked provide get-out-the-vote services for Republican candidate Mark Harris in North Carolinas 9th Congressional District in Bladen County, NC. The North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement decided not to certify the 9th Congressional District election results, which includes Bladen County, between Harris and Democrat Dan McCready due to possible voter fraud involving absentee ballots. A controversy Leslie McCrae Dowless is at the center of. (Photo by Justin Kase Conder for The Washington Post via Getty Images) MORE LESS
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About three months after election fraud allegations surfaced in the congressional race to represent North Carolina’s 9th District, the state board of elections director said Monday there was a “coordinated, unlawful” plot to falsify and steal absentee ballots, according to Charlotte NPR affiliate WFAE.

Director Kim Strach has completed her preview of the state’s investigation and tells of a scheme where political operative McCrae Dowless would pay workers to illegally collect people’s absentee ballots.

He would allegedly stash the ballots in his home and office, and take such measures as matching ink colors on the ballots he and his workers would forge.

The still-undecided race has Republican candidate Mark Harris up 905 votes over Democrat Dan McCready. The North Carolina board of elections will hold its evidentiary hearing Monday.

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