It is now clear beyond any doubt that the race in NC-09 was tainted by serious irregularities with absentee ballots—and that these irregularities rise to the level of criminal conduct. In case you missed it, Republican Mark Harris’ apparent 905-vote victory over Democrat Dan McCready was thrown into doubt when the North Carolina Board of Elections refused to certify the results due to funny business with absentee ballots on the far end of this Charlotte-to-Fayetteville district.
We’ve since learned of multiple instances where absentee ballots in the two easternmost counties of the district, Bladen and Roberson—mainly those for elderly black voters—were collected before they were completed, and in some cases filled in with votes for Harris. The suspected mastermind of this scheme is Leslie McCrae Dowless, an “independent contractor” for Harris’ main campaign consultant. Additionally, there were abnormally large numbers of unreturned absentee ballots in those counties. Also, Harris’ margin among absentee voters in Bladen County doesn’t match the pattern in the rest of the district.
But if there was any doubt that there was fraud here, it was erased yesterday with two bombshell reports—one from Judd Legum of Popular Information, the other from WSOC-TV in Charlotte—that showed eight people witnessed the signatures of over 100 absentee ballots. Even more damning, several of them appear to be Dowless’ relatives. One of the witnesses, Ginger Eason, admitted on camera that Dowless had paid her to collect ballots.
Well, on Tuesday, a second witness admitted—again, on camera—to taking part in the scheme.
Cheryl Kinlaw said she was paid $100 by McCrae Dowless to pick up the ballots.
She said she didn’t know it was illegal and needed extra money for Christmas presents.
“I feel bad now that I know that it wasn't legal, but I didn't know at the time,” Kinlaw said.
[snip]
Kinlaw and Eason signed as witnesses for the people whose ballots they picked up.
Like Eason, Kinlaw didn’t mail the ballots, she said she gave them to Dowless.
“I don’t know what happened to them. He had stacks of them on his desk,” Kinlaw said.
Kinlaw says that Dowless has been harvesting absentee ballots for several years, and that other people are in on it. She believes Dowless’ operation almost certainly tipped the balance in favor of Harris in the closest race this district and its predecessors have seen in at least 64 years.
So now we have two people coming forward to say that they helped Dowless in this scheme. Suffice to say that they and others better be prepared to repeat their stories under oath. As Kossack Man from Wasichustan, a veteran election worker in NC, mentioned in my diary about the multiple witnesses, the penalties for this are severe—a $10,000 fine per violation, plus up to five years in prison. At this point, the only way Eason, Kinlaw and others can stay out of jail and avoid having a felony on their records is to turn on Dowless. Indeed, the only question is when Dowless will be arrested.
Given the rampant fraud that we know took place here, if the state board has any sense, it will call for a new election when it holds an evidentiary hearing later this month. Indeed, the incoming Democratic majority in the House, through Majority Leader-in-waiting Steny Hoyer, has made clear that Harris should not be seated until this is resolved.
But even in the unlikely event that the board doesn’t order a new election, Harris has no business being in Congress. After all, at the very least it’s clear that Harris was disengaged from how his campaign was being run in a way that a major-party candidate cannot be. There is no way in the world that Dowless would have even thought about pulling this stunt if Harris hadn’t fostered an environment in which it was acceptable. It would be no less outrageous if a Democrat did this.
If the board orders a new election, Harris should step aside and allow someone to replace him on the GOP line. And in the unlikely event the board doesn’t order a new election, Harris should decline to take his seat. Either option would allow an election to take place free of taint.