President’s Day did not mean leadership in Raleigh was taking a day off. The new State Board of Elections began the process of holding hearings on the alleged election fraud in the Ninth
Congressional District of North Carolina. After the first day of testimony, the board heard from
multiple witnesses who detailed their involvement in the alleged scheme.
The evidence will show that a coordinated, unlawful, and substantially-resourced absentee
ballot scheme operated during the 2018 general election," said North Carolina State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Strach, in her opening statement Monday at the beginning of the multi-day hearing.
The hearing comes on the heels of allegations of election fraud in the Ninth District of North
Carolina by Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris, who defeated Democrat Dan
McCready by 905 votes. After the election, the State Board of Elections voted across party lines to delay certifying the election results, and open a subsequent investigation into the allegations.
Incoming Executive Director Kim Westbrook has been outspoken about this case calling it a “coordinated, unlawful and substantial” scheme that was used during the election.
McCrae Dowless, a political operative has come under fire for conducting an illegal ballot-
harvesting operation that would help Harris get elected. According to the complaint sent to the
State Board of Elections, the company Harris hired to help with his political campaign paid
Dowless to illegally collect absentee ballots in Bladen and Robeson counties.
On Monday, the stepdaughter of Dowless testified before the committee and gave testimony
detailing some of the logistics of the operation. She stated that Dowless paid workers to collect
absentee ballots and drop them off at his office and his home. She stated that her stepfather took meticulous steps to ensure that they would not set off any alarms in conducting their operation.
“He fussed at me for putting on stamps upside down,” Lisa Britt said in her testimony before the
N.C. Board of Elections. “We didn’t want to throw up a red flag.” When called to testify Dowless declined, unless he was granted immunity in the case, but when his request was declined, he left the building.
In an interview after the hearing, his lawyer Cynthia Adams Singletary said, “If they want him to testify they’ll do what the North Carolina statute allows them to do for him to testify.”
The hearing took place at the North Carolina state bar, where they will continue testimony
throughout the week. If the board votes along party lines, it is unclear what will happen.
Democrats have said that the final decision will go to the United States House of
Representatives, while some Republicans have said that Harris should be declared the winner of the election.