https://www.yahoo.com/gma/north-carolina-congressional-race-limbo-amid-allegations-v**er-010004222.html




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The chairman of the North Carolina Board of E******ns has resigned amid a growing investigation into possible e******n f***d that allegedly took place in this year's primary and general e******ns in the state's 9th Congressional District.
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Andy Penry, a Democrat appointed to the position by the state's Democratic Governor Roy Cooper, had been facing criticism from local Republican officials that he is biased, pointing to various Twitter posts that were critical of President Trump as evidence.
Penry's Twitter account has been changed to private, but the Raleigh News & Observer, whose editorial board called on Penry to resign yesterday, cites an example where he referred to Trump as a "despicable human being."
In a statement released Saturday, and first reported by the Washington Post, Penry says he will "not allow [himself] to be used an instrument of distraction in this investigation."
"The investigation of criminal conduct and absentee v****g fraud in the 2018 Republican primary and 2018 general e******n in Congressional District 9 is a matter of vital importance to our democracy," Penry wrote. "The investigation should be free of attempts at distraction and obstruction so that the t***h can be revealed. I will not allow myself to be used as an instrument of distraction in this investigation. In the best interest of this investigation, and completely of my own accord, I resign from the North Carolina Board of E******ns and Ethics Enforcement, effective immediately."
Mounting evidence of v****g irregularities has led the Board of E******ns to delay certification of the result in the state’s 9th Congressional District and to hold a public hearing to determine the extent of misconduct in a race that was decided by just 905 v**es.
In a Friday v**e of 7-2, the board decided to hold an evidentiary hearing to address allegations of misconduct in the race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready.
That hearing will take place on or before December 21.
An investigation into the claims of absentee v****g irregularities is ongoing, according to Pat Gannon, a spokesperson for the State Board of E******ns.
The race between McCready, a Marine Corps veteran and solar energy entrepreneur who was a top Democratic recruit in 2018, and Harris, a conservative pastor who ousted a GOP incumbent in the primary this year, was one of the most closely watched House races this cycle.
While McCready conceded the race to Harris on November 7, allegations of illegal activity concerning absentee b****ts in rural Bladen and Robeson counties in the far eastern part of the district have cast new doubt on the result, especially given the fact that Harris won a significantly higher portion of the absentee b****ts in those counties in both the primary and general e******n races.
According to the Charlotte Observer, Harris won 61 percent of the absentee b****ts in Bladen County, despite the fact that Republicans only accounted for 19 percent of the county's accepted absentee b****ts, and the fact that McCready won a majority of absentee b****ts in every other county in the district.
ABC News Charlotte affiliate WSOC obtained several sworn affidavits out of Bladen County, raising concerns about a campaign worker for Harris, Leslie McCrae Dowless, who, according to several witnesses, also worked on absentee b****ts.
According to the affidavits obtained by WSOC, one v**er said a worker came to her door, had her fill it out partially, then took the b****t from her and said she would finish it on her behalf.
According to the Observer, the concerns were brought to the state board of e******n John Wallace, an attorney for the state Democratic Party who urged the board not to certify the result until the allegations were thoroughly investigated.
ABC News has requested the affidavits, but has not received or reviewed them.
The state e******ns board has the power to order a new e******n if it determines the irregularities "could have made a difference in the outcome or were widespread enough to generally taint the outcome."
It is also possible that the House could refuse to seat Harris until the results are certified.
Representatives for Harris’ campaign did not immediately respond to a request for comment from ABC News on Friday following the board’s v**e to hold a public hearing, but Harris posted a lengthy response to the decision on Twitter Friday.

(MORE: Trump panel found no evidence of widespread v***r f***d, sought 'pre-ordained outcome': Former member)

"Make no mistake, I support any efforts to investigate allegations of irregularities and/or v***r f***d, as long as it is fair and focuses on all political parties," Harris wrote. "There is absolutely no public evidence that there are enough b****ts in question to affect the outcome of the race."
Harris also said his campaign has filed an intervening motion in state court to force the board to certify the e******n.

An investigation into the claims of absentee v****g irregularities is ongoing, according to Pat Gannon, a spokesperson for the State Board of E******ns.
The race between McCready, a Marine Corps veteran and solar energy entrepreneur who was a top Democratic recruit in 2018, and Harris, a conservative pastor who ousted a GOP incumbent in the primary this year, was one of the most closely watched House races this cycle.
While McCready conceded the race to Harris on November 7, allegations of illegal activity concerning absentee b****ts in rural Bladen and Robeson counties in the far eastern part of the district have cast new doubt on the result, especially given the fact that Harris won a significantly higher portion of the absentee b****ts in those counties in both the primary and general e******n races.
According to the Charlotte Observer, Harris won 61 percent of the absentee b****ts in Bladen County, despite the fact that Republicans only accounted for 19 percent of the county's accepted absentee b****ts, and the fact that McCready won a majority of absentee b****ts in every other county in the district.
ABC News Charlotte affiliate WSOC obtained several sworn affidavits out of Bladen County, raising concerns about a campaign worker for Harris, Leslie McCrae Dowless, who, according to several witnesses, also worked on absentee b****ts.
According to the affidavits obtained by WSOC, one v**er said a worker came to her door, had her fill it out partially, then took the b****t from her and said she would finish it on her behalf.
"Make no mistake, I support any efforts to investigate allegations of irregularities and/or v***r f***d, as long as it is fair and focuses on all political parties," Harris wrote. "There is absolutely no public evidence that there are enough b****ts in question to affect the outcome of the race."
Harris also said his campaign has filed an intervening motion in state court to force the board to certify the e******n.

Okay, republican b****ts accounted for 19% of the absentee b****ts, but they got 61% of the absentee v**e. This is funny, you have to laugh at the sheer audacity of the person in charge of absentee b****ts. Break it down and we won't see any believers defending that this "could" happen, it's too ludicrous.

So for every one thousand absentee v**es 190 per 1000 should be about the maximum republicans could get, give or take a few dozen crossovers which isn't very likely in this climate. Instead they are claiming 610. This would mean 420 dems of the 810 that cast a b****t v**ed for the evangelical republican. It would take a firm belief in divine intervention to believe this was possible. More than 50% of the democrats did not v**e republican. So unless you want to try to figure statistics and how this v**e should have gone it will take a ree******n to sort this one out.

So much for dems being the ones that steal e******ns, this is a new level of c***ting.

The only way I'd say this wasn't relevant was if the margin of victory for the republican was so big that these numbers didn't matter. My guess is that the reason the absentee c***ting happened was because they were needed.

There undoubtedly is v***r f***d, but how many single v**ers can make an appreciable difference?

On the other hand e******n f***d (not necessarily suppression which is different yet) in a vast array of creative ways alters hundreds and thousands of valid v**es. In key races that are becoming closer and closer as a rule a few thousand v**es can make the difference in the outcome, and in a key state flips the e*******l v**es and possibly a p**********l e******n.

I think most states have relatively clean e******ns in terms of b****ts and counts. The problem is that we have maybe a dozen states that refuse to bring their e******n systems into the standards the rest of the country has gone to in order to make e******n f***d more reliable. It's not a coincidence
that the states that refuse to go to more reliable hard b****t backup systems are the ones that are repeatedly having problems with confidence that they are not monkeying up e******n results.

North Carolina is a good example, they have employed all the tricks from closing polling stations and shortening hours to make ludicrously long lines and wait times, to the new thing where the person in charge of absentee b****ts has counted 61% republican when they only have 19% of the b****ts cast that are republicans.

These e******n integrity holdout states are looking at populations that are increasing to democratic majorities while the state legislatures are inexplicably GOP controlled. It's all too clear that fair and honestly run e******ns will result in losses of control to democrats. It's the way democracy works, the majority gets to say what the laws are.

The v***r f***d investigation was destined to fail from the get go, because blue states refused to provide requested information to the team.
https://www.foxnews.com/politics/dem-state-officials-refusing-to-cooperate-with-trump-v**er-fraud-probe

So they were not able to show "widespread v***r f***d". But then you say "no v***r f***d! See, we proved it", and I say not so fast there skippy...

https://dailycaller.com/2016/10/20/heres-what-v**er-fraud-looks-like-in-23-states/
https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/oct/17/no-v**er-fraud-isnt-myth-10-cases-where-its-all-to/
https://townhall.com/tipsheet/guybenson/2016/05/25/cbs-uncovers-v**er-fraud-in-la-n2168330
https://www.dailysignal.com/2017/07/20/v**er-fraud-database-tops-1000-proven-cases/
https://nypost.com/2017/07/14/the-v**e-fraud-that-democrats-refuse-to-see/
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/howard-foster/democrats-benefit-from-illegal-immigrants-v****g_b_1418523.html

It does exist. Broward County and Palm Beach, MANY places in California, etc. The examples - no matter how the MSM tries to taint the evidence - are out there.

Yes it exists, and blue states are not the only ones that refuse to cooperate with making e******ns right. North Carolina is one that the GOP has been running their way for far too long.

the fact that the dem chairman resigned has nothing to do with the e******n f***d scandal where the republican absentee b****t person came up with such a ludicrously incorrect GOP v**e count. I'm sorry, the party with 19% of the b****ts cast cannot come up with 61% of the v**es, it is not possible. That would mean over 50%of the democrats v**ed for an evangelical republican, that is never going to happen.

We actually can and do, North Carolina came up with the 30,000 dead people thing one year. After thorough investigation what was it they came up with, 11? Picture ID is a normal standard, how about if the i***tic signature match is done away with? If you have someone standing before you, they have ID, their name is on the v***r r**********n roll, how is it that their signature is relevant? Why does their in person v**e turn into a provisional b****t?

How about if states with antiquated systems that have no hard backup upgrade their systems?
And how about if federal standards are upheld for e******n boards insuring that when they see four hour lines in precincts, they do the shifting of resources necessary to reduce the lines by at least half instead of eliminating polling stations and decreasing hours to where the lines are doubled? A wait time standard is reasonable for areas with high density populations.

These things are only a problem in a few states where the e******n board makes them a problem.

And by the way, purging v**er rolls of dead people is a really simple thing, and it does not take selectively caging hundreds of thousands of people in select counties and precincts by zip code. This thing where hundreds of thousands of post cards go out, and if they aren't returned the name is taken off the list is one of the most partisan abused things in the country, and most states do not do it, it is not necessary.

I'm all for e******n integrity, and e******n f***d is skewing too many e******ns in states where those in power want anything but f**r e******ns.

Here's an interesting question, can you look at a state that does any obvious thing that is an abuse of their e******ns control and say this is wrong, that needs to stop? The only way to fix abuse is to make a list that is blind to partisan bias, and fix it all from the worst to the least critical. No solution comes when people answer to one thing that their concern is about another. I'd say make a list and work it all.