Evidentiary Hearing in 9th District Race Gets Underway Monday

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – It’s been more than three months since Election Day, and the results still aren’t certified in North Carolina’s 9th District Congressional race.

Now that a new state Board of Elections has been seated, a long-awaited hearing into possible election fraud will finally get underway in Raleigh on Monday.

Right now, Republican Mark Harris holds a 905 vote lead over Democrat Dan McCready.

McCready’s camp is expected to argue that political operative McCrae Dowless allegedly ran a ballot harvesting operation.

Documents show nearly 500 absentee ballots in Bladen County and nearly 1200 in Robeson County were requested but never returned.

“We have heard none of the evidence. We have no idea what the investigation has uncovered,” says Mark Harris’s wife Beth.

She joined supporters who rallied in Mint Hill this weekend.

Attorneys for Harris will argue there isn’t enough evidence to show the results would have been changed by any election tampering.

“We know that we had no knowledge of wrongdoing and we know that the absentee ballot program that was presented to us was completely legitimate,” Harris says.

Dozens of witnesses are expected at the hearing, which could last up to three days.

Governor Roy Cooper weighed in on the situation at an NBA All-Star event in Charlotte.

“There are clearly serious allegations involving the Congressional District 9. What we have to do is wait for the process,” Cooper says.

There are five members on the Board of Elections, three Democrats and two Republicans.

Three votes are needed to certify Harris as the winner. Four votes are needed to order a new election.