Breaking news: The North Carolina board of elections called for a new election in North Carolina's 9th congressional district after examining evidence of absentee ballot fraud on behalf of GOP candidate. The vote was unanimous.
— Sam Levine (@srl) February 21, 2019
Who is making book as to when the first criminal charges are filed?
Princess
a) It is always good to see parts of the system holding up.
b) They need to redo every race in that district, since one of the women who testified admitting writing in votes for down-ballot races.
rikyrah
So…the Reverend, whose son wouldn’t lie for him…got thrown under the bus by the Reverend…
Uh huh
Uh huh
The fraud was so obvious that the GOP couldn’t even pretend to push a story.
JPL
It’s not even Friday and I’ve already reached my news limit. Is Harris going to be barred from running, or does he get another day to cheat again?
Betty Cracker
It’s good that the cheater won’t be seated, but it doesn’t seem like justice for the NON-cheater to have to go through a new campaign and the cheater’s party to get a second chance with a different candidate. Why wouldn’t the party try cheating again since there are no real consequences?
JPL
@Betty Cracker: Are we sure he’s not running?
karensky
DCCC ought to help MCrory run again
catclub
@JPL: I think we are pretty sure on that.
piratedan
@Princess: that was my thought too, one of the gatherers stated that not only for this race, but all of the races, any place that was blank got filled in for the GOP candidate. Now if a GOP won w/o any of the absentee vote being counted, I wouldn’t have a problem with them being seated, otherwise there should be a new election.
I would also mandate a validation of the voter rolls in that district as well, who knows who the hell got purged in the aftermath of this. the whole structure needs to be re-validated.
And if Harris “won” by a total that is not equal to the number of absentee ballots, I wonder why they don’t declare the Dem the winner, because that would explain the margin of defeat.
Sergio Lopez-Luna
Was Harris implicated in the shenanigans? I haven’t seen anything conclusive…
Elizabelle
@Betty Cracker: Agreed.
The GOP just gets to run a prettier candidate. Like the incumbent GOP rep for the district, who very likely got cheated out of being nominee during the GOP primary.
Although: I think NC-9 voters might want to administer some justice. The Democrat came pretty close to winning in the cheated race.
I would like to see Reverend Harris’s ass in jail. They have medical care there, too.
Jharp
Why do Republican get a second chance to take the seat?
Their guy cheated and needs to be disqulafied so whoever got the next most votes should win the seat.
Next time don’t nominate a cheater.
gvg
@Sergio Lopez-Luna: oh yes. the son testified he warned his dad he was hiring a fraudster, and did it by email so there is a record.
Brendan in NC
@karensky: It’s McCreary….Pat McCrory is someone i don’t want within light years of a government job ever again…
ruemara
@rikyrah: He should be in fricking jail
nwerner
Can the campaign sue for the costs that were incurred during the first election?
hells littlest angel
No cheating this time, you scamp, or you’ll get your wrist slapped twice as hard.
Betty Cracker
All the expenses McCreary and the Democratic Party incurred in the first election should be paid back to them by Harris and the Republican Party.
Roger Moore
Before going off the deep end, remember that this is just an inquiry into whether to certify the election results. The question of whether anyone gets prosecuted will be handled separately.
The Midnight Lurker
Peter Tork of the Monkees has passed. He was 77.
JPL
@catclub: So lying and cheating is disqualifying now for republicans. Someone better tell trump.
Barbara
They are recommending a new election, but did they say anything about a new primary? There was evidence that these problems occurred in the primary, but the only thing that seems to have been at issue in the hearing was the GE. State laws typically govern when a ballot can be changed after a candidate drops out. It’s not clear that Harris can simply be replaced on the ballot with a different candidate.
catclub
@JPL: only disqualifying if it also means you’ll probably lose. Trump is still in the clear among the GOP.
john b
@Barbara: There was some law passed recently (since this election) that a primary has to be run again. I wonder though, if there isn’t a bit of ex post facto problem with that. Of course IANAL.
Edit: See this article
trollhattan
Aww, we’ve lost another Monkee.
chopper
so pelosi’s statement early on that she would not have the guy seated in the house was a smart move.
JPL
@catclub: ahh That makes perfect sense for the grifters among them.
Kay
I don’t know what should happen but I do know that the election should be conducted with the interests of voters as the paramount consideration. The Democrat wasn’t just cheated. The whole public were cheated out of a fair election.
So my thought would be to give them what they were cheated out of, which is a legitimate election.
I don’t want to subordinate that to punishing the GOP. That’s the law enforcement and prosecution piece. The elections piece is about voters. What is the remedy for them? A new election.
Steve in the ATL
@Kay: damn and your reasonableness!
Juju
@Brendan in NC: I believe it’s actually Dan McCready.
Steeplejack
@Barbara:
I haven’t looked at john b’s link, but I seem to remember reading that (under current law) since the primary was certified there’s no do-over on that.
japa21
@Steve in the ATL: Yeah, isn’t it disgusting when someone actually tries to bring reasonableness and fairness to a process? Doesn’t Kay realize she is supposed to be hyperpartisan?
Bill Arnold
@japa21:
She is hyperpartisan. Thinks tactically too. (Strategically, even.) :-)
catclub
@Bill Arnold:
.. but does she talk about logistics?
Yutsano
@Kay: I agree the entire party shouldn’t be punished, and nor should the voters of NC-09. But they both deserve a clean election, which means that anyone who worked with Harris even if it wasn’t on the election shenanigans shouldn’t be allowed to participate in the new election. And no way on Gaia’s green earth should Harris be allowed any where any single mechanism of this election save his single voting block. Of course felons have problems voting in North Carolina so…
Gelfling 545
@JPL: Hah! He’s not even indicted yet. Republicans don’t mind a few criminal acts. Let’s them know the guy is serious about getting elected.
Gelfling 545
@Sergio Lopez-Luna: His email asking for the guy with the “absentee ballot project” seems pretty conclusive to me.
Brendan in NC
@Juju: Right – he’s the Democrat…Pat McCrory is a Republican, who was the mayor of Charlotte for nearly 20 years, and a 1 term Governor. He’s the one who started trying to undo every Democratic gain in the state from the previous 100 years…
randy khan
It’s unfortunate that the only remedy is a new election, even though I know that’s the only practical choice. There are a lot of more just outcomes, like giving it to the Democrat or deciding that the Republicans start with a vote count of -1,000, but I get why they’re not possible.
burnspbesq
The bad guy’s son is an AUSA in the Eastern District. I imagine that office will recuse in any Federal criminal proceedings.
Is there still a Voting Rights Section at Main Justice, or did Bilbo Biggot kill it off?
TomatoQueen
@burnspbesq: It appears to exist, but if you look at the org chart, it seems to lack a certain oomph. https://www.justice.gov/crt