RepublicanMark Harris, an evangelical minister, defeated incumbent Republican Congressman Robert Pittenger in the primary and then faced DemocratDan McCready, a veteran and businessman, in the general election. Initial tallies put Harris 905 votes ahead, but the state election board refused to certify the results, pending a criminal investigation into allegations of fraud in handling of absentee ballots.[1] The seat was unrepresented at the start of the 116th Congress.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections held an evidentiary hearing in February 2019.[2] On February 21, the board unanimously voted to call a new election because of fraud by Republican operatives.[3] Several Republican campaign operatives have been indicted for their role in an illegal ballot harvesting and ballot tampering operation. In addition to illegal collection and handling of ballots, ballot tampering was admitted in witness testimony, including filling in blank votes to favor Republican candidates. The state legislature passed a law requiring new party primaries.
^Cite error: The named reference Buzzfeed was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
_(cropped_close_up).png)
