From the get go Mr. Harris has shown his true proclivity toward the republican party’s sinful ways of the present. And as far as his being a minister- really? He sounds like Trump trying to distance himself from the sinners surrounding him. Too many “ministers “ , “men of god” are the ones who should be 1st in line to ask god’s forgiveness, and 2nd serve their penance in prison. Never to be allowed a pulpit or a seat in government.
4
Kris Kobach, you need to get on down to North Carolina straight away. They found your target! Who could have guessed?
4
Watch what people do, not what they say.
1
In a horse race, a cheater is disqualified, not allowed to have a re-run of the race. It seems to me the same standards should be applied here.
5
We owe Bush, Cheney, and the Iraq war to election irregularities. Is anyone investigating Diebold voting machines for irregularities in the 2016 election? There are so many ancillary irregularities that the probability is high. Hillary won the popular vote by almost 2.9 million.
4
Actual voter fraud is rare. When there IS voter fraud, it is often on behalf of Republicans.
6
This is NOT complicated. Go to where the TRUE facts, not emotion, is. If a Republican jiggers with the ballots, he should go to jail. If a Democrat does it as well, he/she should join the Republican. This is NOT complicated. We just make it that way.
4
Meanwhile, here in Texas, the most recent effort to root out "voter fraud" is backfiring badly on our secretary of state forcing Gov. Abbott and our under-felony-fraud-indicted Attorney General Ken Paxton to come to his rescue. This is kinda like using diesel fuel instead of gasoline to quench a fire on the theory the former is not as explosively combustible as the latter.
2
It really does seem counter productive, if you really think there is voter fraud in your state, and your in a position of elected authority, you probably shouldn’t be under indictment, for anything. But, that’s the Republican Party for you, Rep Collins, and his son, and his wife, and her father, we all arrested on insider trading violations, another Republican he and his wife have Ben charged with misuse of campaign funds, when your read the indictment, you see that they used their campaign donations like it was their own money, took family and friends on trips to Italy, they paid for their kids schools, their mortgage and other personal bills, yep, that’s the GOP for you.
1
I can only trust that even as we become Democrats, Republicans or whatever political party we remain Americans.
1
"Voter fraud doesn't exist
"There is not such thing as voter fraud
"Voter fraud doesn't happen.
Just a few of the deflections offered by the Republicans in hopes to distract you.
Well, first every discussion I've read said that is rare or seldom happens not that it doesn't exist.
And then second its their usual false equivalence or conflating the meaning of different things in hopes of distracting you.
Republican's want you to believe individuals in hordes are falsely voting. That is why they want Voter ID or use voter suppression methods. To combat the individuals who they want you to be afraid are fraudulently voting.
Of this voter fraud there are only rare instances of it happening.
What is happening in North Carolina is election tampering, election fraud. This is institutionalized election fraud and it happens enough that you can go to Google and search for Republicans convicted in these kind of schemes. It's rare, but the number of affected votes are much greater, and you'd be surprised that it happens enough to actually get convicted of it. One can only imagine all the times they get away with it. Cheating in ingrained into the Republican methodology. Even when they don't have to.
4
It's NOT the brown people coming across America's border that Americans need to fear....it is many of the white people already in America doing criminal, racial, and unethical actions that ARE the greatest threat to our democracy .
7
Apparently the America Treason Party has found that Gerrymandering isn't enough. Any bets yet again no one will go to prison for this criminal abuse?
3
Sounds like it’s time to call in the world’s expert on voter fraud: Kris Kobach of Kansas. Kris, we need you! Kris? Kris? Anybody home?
(Crickets)
3
Isn't it interesting that all around the world we are getting this hard right "dictatorship" type politicians. We all need to wake up to how our democracy is full of holes and fix it. Make the elections bullet proof. Employ people on the up-front part of elections to ensure their credibility rather than spend million and billions afterwards trying to sort things out and suing.
1
Why isn't this the lead article?
This is voter fraud. Republicans caught stealing ellections.
This is far more important than that stupid wall.
7
Despite the obvious scheme, Harris wanted his election certified, and he is a minister. His request was refused, and that is about the only thing sensible under the circumstances. His party supports restraints to eliminate illegal votes but, apparently, thinks it does not apply to Republicans.
2
As I have never called Trump by our most high title, Harris doesn’t deserve the title of God of man. He is simply Harris.
The fact that the party responsible for this scheme is also
the party decrying voter fraud everywhere and anywhere
should suffice to muffle such partisan blather even on the permanent propaganda machines called f-x "news" and sinclair network. They will presumably now veer off to other attack tropes such as the socialist menace, truly a "pointed dagger at the heart" of dear leader's efforts to keep the economy the private playground of all those capable of paying to play.
The vile muck we will also be forced to breathe in as part
of the 2020 campaign will be full of such gibberish, the sole point of which is to use fear to drive back into the trumpican camp all those suburban voters who had had enough of holding their noses in the ambient stench by last November to
change party.
But one has also heard of cutting off one's nose to spite
oneself? Are such voters truly capable of that if
forced to listen to such attack motifs day in and day out
for far too long? Are they really so fearful and ignorant
to fall for such obviously manipulative idiocy?
It would help if the democrats were capable of presenting
a clear, coherent, and realistic message, directed at such voters, of what they really want to do, why they want to do it,
and how this is in these voters' interests as well. So far,
only the progressive activist part of the party has had the
floor to do this, and their over the top rhetoric
is giving trumpican propagandists a lot to play with.
7
If corporations are people, this is what you get, because corporations have no conscious, cannot go to jail and have the Supreme Court on their side with the fun of Citizen's United.
Squabbling about a coup, it is the Supreme Court that Mitch McConnell and this president are diverting all legislation to and the trouble begins and ends with Citizens United.
6
So Trump was right all along , when he screamed there is a voter fraud.
Only a little glitch: Republicans condoned not Democrats.
But bottom-line is There is a voter fraud in US elections.
3
Why has Dowless not been charged. If Harris was aware of the fraud, and there is no evidence that supports that as of yet, the DA would have a lot of leverage to get that from Dowless as part of a plea.
3
This is the state whose elected officials have made it their life’s work to gerrymander. They don’t want this dealt with. They just want it to go away.
1
Here a compromise: The Republicans get voter ID, the Democrats get a voting holiday, and we pass laws to prevent last-minute voter-roll purges, which the Republicans use to suppress voter turnout.
1
Voter fraud happens but it gets caught. I'm more concerned in the long run about election hacking and infuence campaigns. The internal stuff we deal identify and deal with easily ( well maybe not easy) when it happens. The Gore thing in Florida was a travisty with disenfranchised voters. Seems when they get away with it nothing good comes as a result. It's not voters we have problems with.
2
I think it is a fluke that this was caught and publicized. Anytime someone - of any political party - can benefit from altering information like this, it happens and we must have safeguards and audits to prevent it happening again.
Here in Georgia we have read about uncounted ballots in tightly contested races. In Florida, the storage of ballots outside the regular custodial process. I would not be surprised to find this in most, if not all, states.
1
Viz., Republican election fraud that very likely reversed the results of a Congressional House election.
Voter fraud is almost unheard of--despite dishonest Republican claims to the contrary. But election fraud and voter suppression are significant and real--and entirely Republican.
It is incredible. Apparently, these North Carolina Republicans and their operatives were still--last week--trying to interfere with the state board's investigation.
46
Anyone who has been paying attention knows that the Republicans are committed to counting only the votes of Republican-leaning voters and Democrats are left defending the right to vote for all Americans. This North Carolina district is the epitome of that divergence in the way the parties operate. I no longer feel like a vote is treasured by those in power. For example, look at the Georgia Secretary of State who is now the Governor, thanks to "overseeing" his own election. We have a massive problem in trust being undercut in the bedrock of our nation: the vote is suspect and it will take a long time for the average voter to feel confident again.
1
Interesting the Republicans are always screaming "voter fraud" but they are the ones who apparently are the main perpetrators of fraud.
28
The Washington Post reports that Harris hired Dowless "... even after being warned of his questionable tactics." Harris should be disqualified, indicted and possibly sent to jail. There should be new elections including primary elections. End of story. Let's not over think this.
Meanwhile, given FOX News fascination with the voter fraud issue, they should send a team of reporters to North Carolina and feature it prominently on Special Report. If they did (I shouldn't write things like this; coffee burns when you snort it back out), the FOX team might notice the similarities between this and the Trump/Manafort situation and wonder, 'What a coincidence. Two Republicans running for high office accidentally hire slimebag political operatives to run their campaigns. How'd that happen?'
18
Tell us again how Republicans want fraud-free and honest elections. Nobody believes you (unless they're one of Trump's brainwashed minions). And if this story isn't enough, just remember Mitch McConnell called ideas to make voting easier for American citizens "a power grab." Why ANY intelligent, average American citizen would believe or vote for the GOP is absolutely bewildering.
19
What a shock! Evidence of voter fraud committed by Republicans! Who woulda thunk it?
9
For the thousandnt time : They can Win, unless they Cheat.
2020. Be there.
3
@Phyliss Dalmatian
They cannot win, unless they cheat.
1
I cannot believe that Harris did not know of and approve this chicanery. He purposely hired a convicted felon who was known to have been involved in vote fiddling in the past. Do you really think that Harris didn’t know what was going on? Please!
9
Ah but "voter fraud" doesn't exist!
@hawk
this is election fraud not voter fraud. your gotcha moment is a dud.
Fun to watch the Republicans being hoisted by their own petard.
6
I am shocked, just shocked, that Republicans cheat. No real surprise. If gerrymandering does not work, just cheat. Lock'em up. LOL.
7
Voter suppression on the one hand, voter fraud on the other. Guns, God, Graft, and Fraud. Folks, I give you today’s GOP.
14
You mean to tell me, and the world, that the GOP was caught cheating red handed? No kidding, what a surprise!
Has anyone ever heard of a decent, honest GOPer? Nah!
2
Did they troll the obits to pick up some extra ballots? A time and tested tactic to turn out the vote.
2
So the bottom line here is that there is indeed voter fraud at play in American elections. No one who remembers that JFK won the 1960 election of the strength of fraudulent ballots in Illinois and Texas would argue with that. Or with the famous quip of Richard Daley exhorting Chicago voters to "Voter early and vote often." The real problem is that Democrats deny that it happens, rather that agreeing that it is a (probably minor) problem that needs to be investigated and prevented if possible.
And today Democrats are conflicted about this case in North Carolina. While they would love to point fingers at Republican voter fraud involving a handful of ballots, they know it undermines their hard line that voter fraud doesn't happen. They assiduously avoided even discussing the fact that a Secretary of State report in Texas indicated that 58,000 ballots in Texas had been cast by non-citizens who were voting illegally.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/01/03/us/politics/trump-voter-fraud-commission.html?module=inline
History has demonstrated that elections can be a shady business in America, whether conducted by Democratic elections officials in Broward County, Florida, or by Republicans in North Carolina. The public has a right to know just how shady they are, and it is always Democrats who object when anyone wants to turn that rock over.
1
@Chuck French, so, the Republicans are right about the existence of election fraud, because they do it! Note that none of the Republican solutions to election fraud (which mostly consists of limiting voters) would have prevented this type of fraud.
Bringing up an election from the 60's (50 years ago!) is just plain ol' whataboutism.
2
Republicans maintain that the voter fraud is done by illegal immigrants. This is a story of a political operative. Totally different situation!
1
@Chuck French says "No one who remembers that JFK won the 1960 election of the strength of fraudulent ballots in Illinois and Texas would argue with that."
Gee! I don't remember that!
Furthermore, the claim has been demolished by -- Heavens to Betsy -- facts! Look at this:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2017/08/08/heres-a-voter-fraud-myth-richard-daley-stole-illinois-for-john-kennedy-in-the-1960-election
It took me 0.55 seconds to uncover these facts. What's Chuck French's excuse?
2
I predict the house will force a new vote. Then Trump and the GOP will act like they are the victims of an illegal coup. Just like the Russian asset pretends he is under attack by the deep state. It is all very much what they all learned from Putin. It is why they have all been so droolingly complimentary of Putin for years, because he is their mentor.
4
Another election? Seriously? What does a candidate have to do to be disqualified in NC?
8
The desperation of a shrinking political party, and its subservience to oligarchs, is pulling back the curtain for all to see what the GOP has become. The "fear" of rampant voter fraud; the "economic destruction and criminal activity" of immigration; and the "Godlessness" of socialism are just the loudest messaging being used to ensure the easily fooled will continue voting for the people, policies, and beliefs, which vortex working Americans' money upward to the wealthiest. It's too baaaaad about sheep.
2
So the only real voter fraud is being committed by Republicans.
4
Call me a cynic if you like but I suspect that the sanctimonious Mark Harris knew exactly what would happen when he hired Dowless. Dowless met expectations.
5
@dcaryhart
The incumbent representative, Bob Pittenger, turned down Dowless' offer for assistance in the Republican primary, for reasons he never stated. Harris took the primary with a lopsided absentee count. Dowless has a long history of "helping out" in elections, so it's a safe bet the Harris people hired him for a reason, and paid him in six figures.
1
I'm confused. Democrats have been telling us there's no such thing as voter fraud; and that asking that voters identify themselves with easily available, valid photo IDs or that mailed ballots be under tighter scrutiny is somehow tantamount to voter suppression (are Democrats less able to get photo IDs?). Yet, here we have a credible example of alleged fraud by operatives hired for the campaign of a Republican candidate; and during the 2016 election, we had Democratic operatives bragging about disrupting Trump meetings, staging incidents blaming Trump supporters of violence, and actually organizing widespread voter fraud ( https://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/21/us/politics/video-dnc-trump-rallies.html ).
Yet the concept of proper voter identification or securing the mail-in ballot system don't seem to be on the table, just pointing an outraged finger at Republicans.
If Democrats are sincere, shouldn't they acknowledge that this is evidence that voter fraud and Ballot schemes do exist, and that the issue should be remedied, if only to prevent Republicans from rigging elections?
Something tells me the suspicious insistence that low voter identification standards remain unchanged, and the persistent narrative that voter fraud is insignificant or nonexistent despite the evidence, hide the probability that Democrats would have much more to lose if voter fraud were effectively curtailed in this country. Hence the blatant hypocrisy.
1
@Chris says "I'm confused. Democrats have been telling us there's no such thing as voter fraud."
Well now I'm confused too. I've seen many statements by Democrats that election fraud was small, or that it didn't change the outcome of the 2016 presidential election, but when I googled "democratic party on election fraud" I found no statement by Democrats that "there's no such thing as voter fraud".
Why does Chris feel the need to lie?
3
@Chris, you complain about the "narrative that voter fraud is insignificant or nonexistent despite the evidence," but there is no evidence of wide-spread election fraud, other than this fraud committed by the Republicans! That is why Republicans keep losing the court battles over their attempt to limit voting.
2
@GetSerious - the cause and results you describe don't really relate logically.
Let's just say that this gas been demonstrated as having occurred and of it isn't addressed we will see it again.
1
Interesting when we hear that all of the cookies are being stolen, only to find out that the very person who is screaming the loudest, is the one who is stealing all the cookies!
The Republicans have absolutely no sense of shame. The Party is thoroughly and totally corrupt to the core.
I never thought I’d see any of this in my lifetime, and trust me, there have been plenty... Nixon, Agnew, DeLay, all of them. The RP just keeps going downhill into the rat infested swamp.
8
The cheating party should have to forfeit. Period. A new election simply gives them a 2nd bite at the apple. That is wrong.
8
So Mark Harris has all the makings to be president! Gotta luv those republicans. They know its whether you win or lose, not how you play the game!
2
Finally the Republicans can point to real election fraud.
6
So a convicted felon, Ms. Britt, admits to felonious tampering with ballots but claims the man they were supporting was an innocent dupe who was just coincidentally paying for her services through her stepfather.
yeah right.
I do wonder though when charges against Dowless will be filed. This is a state felony, so why no charges? It's not like there is a lack of evidence, so why the delay?
6
NC voters need to take the wheel away from the party.
1
Who knew that Conservatives were right all along. There is organized and widespread voter fraud!
3
From one end of the.county Republicans, across our blessed Democracy, are seemingly bad actors posing as honest elected officials. What a crying shame,
Perhaps they should call in that great voter fraud crusader Kurt Kobach to sort matters out. Oh, I forgot. He himself is busy running for cover in Kansas.
1
Nothing has changed since the time of Nixon. Whether they are winning or losing Republicans believe in the need to cheat to win and winning at all cost.
45
A possible way to prevent some fraud is to require all local absentee ballots to be submitted in person to the board of elections where the voter's name will be then ticked off the roll.
Hardship? No, as many people vote absentee to eliminate the hassle of the polls or take advantage of nearly two weeks of early voting.
4
@jhbev Your proposal is similar to the Canadian advance poll system. One problem concerns voters who are immobile due to some temporary or permanent condition. How will they vote?
2
@jhbev, it would not be a hardship for you, but it might be for a single-parent having to work a couple of jobs.
2
@Roger D. Moore
How do those people vote now? Do they have assistance to go to the polls, or does the board send them an absentee ballot based on a phone call?
Is it asking too much if an election board addresses this problem and considers handicapped people, as well as ex-pats in the fix?
I have been a poll worker. The checks on a voter's identity are rigid. In Oct. 2020, a federal i.d. card will have to be submitted to vote. [stupidly, an expired passport will not count.] Many people, handicapped, poor, not having transportation will be eliminated from the register; just what the GOP is aiming for. In the Harris case, those who voted legitimately are not in question.
2
It appears that the good o' boys had the election process wired (this is not Mr. Dowless' first get out the vote campaign). I wonder if the Congressman from North Carolina CD 11 is experiencing sleepless nights.
8
The Republicans did want us to believe that voter fraud was real. I guess that since they couldn't find any they'd have to do it themselves.
34
How proud Republicans must be of their party and the party's platform.
Their playbook? Cheat as much as you can; if you are caught deny, deny, deny and blame the Democrats; Repeat as necessary.
Is it any wonder that 85% of the Republican Party thinks Donald Trump is a great president? I guess he is, using their standards.
47
The GOP has evolved from a political party to a criminal enterprise. Power and greed are it's only motivations.
37
@senigma
Trying getting the average working person in America to even look at this. Good Luck!
CNN hired John Kasich as a commentator and voice of reason for the Republican Party. Has anyone reviewed his background here in Ohio? He's one of these Republicans who will give you a job at a non-living wage and then brag that he gave you a job as if that's supposed to help you survive.
2
Of course, a new election must be held and those guilty of fraud imprisoned.
13
It bears mentioning that the very same acts which constitute "ballot harvesting" are are illegal in NC -- properly so -- are perfectly legal in CA and were used to great effect by the local Democrats.
1
@Brenda
The article was pretty specific about person, place, time, etc. It sounds like you are making a vague accusation of voter fraud in CA -- do you have specific evidence or facts to support this?
Otherwise it comes across as the type of distracting tactic that can only further support questions regarding GOP electioneering motives and strategies.
6
I’m pretty sure filling out (or finishing filling out) someone else’s ballot is illegal everywhere.
4
@Brenda
yet no one in CA who 'harvested' ballots filled them out for people, opened them and changed votes, or in fact did anything illegal. The same cannot be said for NC Republicans.
your lame attempt to shift the conversation fails as do your politics.
5
Every day I wake up and it is still surreal. I've done nothing wrong but I'm taking the 5th anyway. Will this be discussed, in depth, by Sean Hannity on FOX? Shouldn't he and his puppet be hollerin' about all this voter fraud?
17
I am an Ohio resident who received at least 6 separate mailed offers for an absentee ballot. Some of these were within a day or two of the actual election. I did not respond to any of these, but this certainly raises a concern that there could be manipulation of absentee ballots in many states.
15
@Mike B
did you report them to the State Election Commission? if not you are allowing what you suspect to be a problem to continue.
4
@Mike B:
I'm an Ohio resident too. I get a mailed invitation to request an absentee ballot too. It comes from the office of the Ohio Secretary of State.
I only get that one. I don't know where your other five come from.
1
It would be immensely beneficial if officials from both parties refrained from partisan emailing and tweeting during the proceedings. Sometimes, self-restraint is called for.
7
Republican-manufactured voter fraud in North Carolina, while grievous in itself, is small potatoes alongside the real voter fraud in the United States: voter repression in all its many forms. Voter repression includes gerrymandering for partisan benefit, shortened election periods, reduced and inconvenient voting hours and voter locations, requirement of forms of voter identification having a differential partisan, socio-economic, or racial impact on voters, voter intimidation of various kinds, and all other efforts artificially to discourage and reduce voter turnout.
The Republican party has shown time and time again that it seeks to subvert the American electoral system, the very foundation of American constitutional democracy. Of late, it has demonstrated its willingness even to conspire with foreign enemies to do so. Here voter fraud has shaded into treason.
45
''A witness, Lisa Britt, also described efforts to disguise the misconduct and a recent push by Mr. Dowless to dissuade testimony during this week’s proceedings. Mr. Dowless went as far as to suggest a script for a witness to recite while invoking the constitutional protection against self-incrimination, she said.''
The criminal trial is coming.
15
Court ordered redistricting due to gerrymandering has been exceedingly slow.
Harris's win is not the only questionable result. Many here in western NC doubt that Mark Meadows would have won if the lines were fair.
22
All that remains to figure a way to blame it on Democrats and certify the Republican candidate.
18
Well apparently Trump was right, there actually was some voter fraud. The only problem is he had fingered the wrong party. It seems the old saying that you see the world through your own experiences has some validity after all.
17
Who'd have guessed?
Republicans claim massive illegal voting by Democrats during every election cycle, even when there is no evidence of it, then their North Carolina congressional representative commits widespread election fraud.
I wonder if Trump's fake Committee on Election Integrity would have bothered looking into this obvious illegality, granted Kris Kobach was tasked to prove Hillary cheated when she won the popular vote by 3 million.
Republican politicians constantly take a"holier than thou" attitude about voter fraud, racism, misogyny and other heinous behavior yet they fail to police their own ranks like the Democrats do.
17
Why do the cheats get another election? So they can cheat again?
In any sporting contest, the cheater is eliminated and the victory is forfeited. The Olympics do not re-run events if the medalist is found to be doping. They lose the medal and the next runner up is declared the winner.
In this case, many Republicans – and the election is for a party, not just a single person – aided and abated in this fraud. Toss out all the Republican votes and give the victory to the Democrats.
Elections have consequences and cheating should have harsh consequences. The cheating party should not be eligible to run in the next election.
59
@Buttons Cornell
It will save the taxpayers money, too.
10
@Buttons Cornell
I agree. Why go thru all the hassle and expense of another election, when the victory should go to the runner-up. Has the GOP no integrity at all, anywhere?
6
The GOP has finally found voter fraud - just not where they’ve been looking.
14
The plain fact of the matter is that it is much easier to fraudulently cast a vote by mail than it is in person. However, here in North Carolina, we have seen the Republicans spend the last decade claiming to care about voter fraud yet only restricting in person voting, not voting by mail. Not surprisingly, we learn that voting by mail, which is much easier to use to commit fraud, is used in much higher numbers by Republicans. The bottom line is that when you hear any Republican politician speak about the problem of voter fraud and election integrity, but the policy solution excludes voting by mail, you know that the intent is to subvert democracy, not address election fairness.
48
@Lee N - I am curious why you believe that voting by mail makes fraud easier. We have only voting-by-mail here in WA, and I am not aware of any questions of fraud here. We have a complete paper trail with no (Diebold or other questionable,) hackable machines. Here, in San Juan County, the postage is even prepaid. So, how does one commit fraud?
2
I believe I heard that if the Election Board votes on party lines the decision goes to the US House of Representatives. How do you think that will turn out?
7
So, it turns out the GOP was right about illegal voting all along, LOL.
18
Positive id should be necessary to vote and no illegals with drivers licenses.
TRUMP was Right!!
There is illegal voting here in the US.....only it was orchestrated to help the Republicans...
What do we hear from Trump on this..silence!!
29
There needs to be a new election under NC law for two reasons: 1) We already know enough ballots were handled improperly to mean that the result could have been affected. 2) The election is irretrievably tainted by fraud.
There also likely need to be criminal prosecutions of certain individuals involved in the fraud, including but not limited to Dowless.
15
@James - The 2016 Presidential election needs a re-do for the same reason. In the 2016 federal election case, numerous certain individuals are already on trial or in prison with more to come.
I think they should throw out the cheating ballots and then recount to see who won.
@Aven Manning
The problem is there is no easy way to determine "the cheating ballots." A new election would be simpler, cheaper and at this point fairer.
10
It’s amazing that the party that constantly cry’s voter fraud is the party orchestrating voter fraud
Me thinks you protest too much
19
Just think, ALL this is legal in most states. CA ballot harvesting won six seats for the democrats.
Sources?
20
@Sparky Jones
That's not what happened here. Fraudulent votes were cast.
3
Falsifying ballots is not legal in California. "Vote harvesting" is a third party delivering someone's absentee ballot, not creating fake ones as occurred here.
9
Like all radical evangelical preachers, Mark Harris believes he is on a mission from G-d. As a politician, he like most Republicans believe the ends justify the means. Even if that requires cheating, lying, hypocrisy and phony accusations against the other side. Mark Harris is a Christian without conscience. He is anti-LGBT, anti minority, anti science, anti public education and anti Democratic process. How long has this been going on in NC and what other phony Republicans has it helped win close elections. As an American, I am appalled. As a NC native, I'm humiliated.
94
@Ronald J Kantor I am so with you, neighbor. I cry for what's happened to our beautiful, once progressive state over the past decade. I do take hope that things are beginning to change, however slowly.
4
Well said, Mr Kantor. Please know that there are many Christians out here who despise the lies and deceit and hatred perpetrated in the name of Christianity during this dark time in our country. People like Mark Harris are not Christians, they are simply hypocrites and liars who will do anything to advance themselves and their agenda. It is certainly not Christ-like nor does it represent what Jesus taught about truth, love and justice.
Giving a script to prospective witnesses surely indicates that obstruction of justice should be added to the allegations of election fraud in the 19th District.
It seems an easy decision for the Board of Elections to invalidate the initial results, and to call for a new elections. The downside for North Carolinians in all of this is that due to the scurrilous behavior of the GOP in their district is that they currently have no representation in the House of Representatives.
On that basis, a speedy decision invalidating the results is required, and a new election should be implemented forthwith. If not, there is an increasing risk that the district's House seat will remain vacant for the next two years. And perhaps that is exactly what the GOP wants. Not too hard to believe, is it?
10
When the oldest democracy of the modern era is #139 of 172 countries in voter turnout, something is not rotten in Denmark but the U. S. of A.
Furthermore, the vast majority of all advanced countries either vote on holidays or weekends.
But then, America is not an advanced country any more.
37
Finally, a confirmed case of voting fraud and an example of local officials discovering it and properly moving it forward within the system. Now, we wait to see if the Republicans in NC state government will act without bias and with the power of their stated convictions, or just the political cynicism that they have demonstrated over the last 10 years. Anyone wanna bet on this?
18
This is real election fraud and all we hear is silence from the GOP.
The party of Trump finds it harder and harder to win elections without cheating. Sad.
46
A new monitored vote is needed.
9
@William
If any other country ran elections in the way we do, we'd be demanding that the UN send in election monitors nationwide.
30
So true. And really, this is a demand democrats ought to make. UN, come on in...
3
Real election fraud is perpetrated by the vote counters and not the vote casters. Anyone truly concerned about election fraud should be more concerned about their vote actually counting and much less concerned about someone else’s vote not counting.
12
@UScentral
Add Florida to the list of ‘was my vote even counted?’!
@UScentral
I'd agree that any and every type of fraud be combated, criminalized, and prosecuted. That means that we make sure no entity is enabled to manipulate ballots, manipulate ballot machines, AND that we fix the "photo ID = voter suppression" farce.
This is a non-sexy story that is not drawing the attention it deserves in this digital age. Lets hear about this on talk news, news flashes on cell phones. Reporters are right to wait for the "facts" before pointing fingers. However, this could be more than a simple crime, because it is another "test case", along with social media and slanted television news which shows radicals how to influence elections. The closeness of so many races has always seemed suspect to the ordinary person. There is a serious need to reform how we vote and when we vote; the public wants this. Would a change in voting days, times, and requirements benefit people like Mitch McConnell? Would he be able to pack the courts? Would Donald Trump, an utter newbie to politics, be President? If it is found by history that our recent elections might have had far different outcomes had they been conducted with honesty, what will history say about the media? How else does an ordinary citizen obtain truthful information? Fox News?
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Once again, whenever there’s election fraud, it’s republicans doing the fraud. No surprise here.
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@Mike Threse folks should go to jail. Ity should also be illegal for anyone to spread false claims about voter fraud. Our democracy is all we have. Whil there has to be first amendment rights to political speech, it must not include speech designed to defraud voters. We have the first amendment so that we can sustain a democracy, not to undermine it. In the Trump era, we all have to be ready to re-examine our fundamental rights to preserve them - not to protect those intent on destroying them.
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@Chris Yes, really.
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Seems that whenever Republicans make an accusation against "liberals" or Democrats, for anything, about science, crimes, votes, agendas, "activist judges," you can pretty much bet the farm that it actually is based on what the Republicans have already committed or done secretly and that they speak from experience. They are beyond hypocritical.
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"No matter what the board decides, Monday’s revelations were an embarrassment for North Carolina Republicans, who spent years crusading against fraud..."
Republicans feel embarrassment? On which planet?
For years republican political operatives acted with impunity. Witness Roger Stone and Paul Manafort. If there is any shame or embarrassment by a republican, it's because they were caught.
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@Mark - wasn't it NC who passed an overtly racist voter id purge?
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@Mark - Typical recent Republican playbook. Cover up your own wrongdoing by accusing the other side of it. Commit vote fraud and cover it up by investigating (non-existant) vote fraud by Democratic voters. Cut taxes and explode the national debt and accuse Democrats of uncontrolled spending. This projection repeats itself in many areas. It leads to the logical that all these accusations they make are all not just lies, but worse - they are coverups.
Trump has this strategy down to a fine art.
So I think this has got to be our new comeback when somebody in the GOP accuses Democrats of something. Don't just deny it and denounce the lie, but investigate the GOP for doing that exact thing!
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So, what does our president have to say about this? Crickets. Oh right, it wasn't a democrat.
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Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton made a big splash with a claim that 95,000 voter registrations were invalid because the voters were not citizens. Trump naturally chimed in with a tweet claiming rampant voter fraud.
But then quietly word came back that many of the registrations actually were valid because they were made through the Office of Public Safety or by legally naturalized citizens. The story has gone quiet since.
On Planet Trump, you are guilty until proven innocent and all that counts is the first headline.
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@Look Ahead I
I guess you missed the Kavanaugh hearings!
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Where is Kris Kobach and his Election Integrity Commission? Oh I forgot, they were not commissioned to find actual voting fraud, just to selectively strip Democratic voters of their registration status.
Across the country, the GOP is desperately trying to suppress Democratic voters by gerrymandering, closing polls, reducing early voting and challenging registration documents.
Its almost as if the Voting Rights Act has been rendered ineffective by the Supreme Court. Oh yeah, now I remember. That was another gift of the Roberts Court, just like Citizens United.
So much winning.
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@Look Ahead
Wonderfully detailed history of the GOP's election manipulations.
Requiring expensive voter ID from economically challenged citizens, gerrymandering, discontinuing federal oversight in southern states by the 1965 Voter Rights Act, moving/closing polling locations, reducing early voting, and removing registered voters from rolls close to election day are all strategies Republicans employ so they can barely win. Remove those illegal tactics and Republicans would become a minority political party in most of our 50 states.
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Lets get real if this was a Democratic candidate who did this we would have days of presidential tweets nonstop coverage on Fox News and a Republican meltdown. Instead utter and complete silence from Republicans other than to seat their man.
Here for once we have proof of voter fraud and where is the Republican outcry for a full and complete investigation over how the sanctity of the vote has been subverted.
Sadly I'm not surprised when Mitch McConnell calls making presidential voting days a national holiday a Democratic power grab pretty much tells you all you need to now.
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This is the sad state of our republic, party over the rule of law. Mitch McConnell has to go he has done so much damage to democracy.
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@Chris Its election fraud, which is different than voter fraud. The GOP promotes 'voter fraud' as a trope about the Democrats because they're busy undermining elections by skirting and, as this story explains, crossing the line of election fraud. Otherwise I agree with your argument.
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@rick
Agreed. Yet he keeps getting re-elected. That is the most depressing piece of all of this.
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My wife and I worked to register voters and then door to door on the campaign. We are furious that our work was countered by an organized criminal activity to nullify registered voters preferences. If Dr. Rev. Mark Harris is as ethical as his titles suggests, he should resign for the campaign due the actions of the people he employed to commit this fraud.
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No one seemed to mind much when Democrats harvested ballots in California, which would be a crime in other states. It only seems to matter when it's Republicans.
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@Mike Livingston, can you provide the source for your comment? Did the Dems in CA actually break the law as was done in NC? It seems you are complaining about Dems in CA following CA rules, but perhaps you have more facts we do not know about - if so please share those.
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@Mike Livingston It only matters when it's a crime.
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@Mike Livingston - It's not illegal in many states for party representatives to pick up absentee ballots from members of their own party. I live in KS, where I've participated in picking up absentee ballots from voters who indicate they'd like for us to do that.
The crime was picking up ballots from people of the opposite party and then destroying them or altering the votes.
All you Trump bashers out there have to admit the president was right. There was massive voter fraud in the 2016 election.
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@RNS there is no proof of that, and this article is not about fraud in the presidential election. What facts are you basing your comment on? It is not mentioned in the article.
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Yeah, committed by republicans
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@RNS There is a difference between election fraud and voter fraud. This article is about election fraud, committed by the state or people seeking office.
Where is the evidence of voter fraud?
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This story can't be true since the Democrats have assured us there is no significant election fraud anywhere in the United States. Or was this the only fraud in all of the national elections? Or does fraud happen all the time?
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You don't seem to grasp the distinction between election fraud and voter fraud. Election fraud is committed by the state or people seeking office to falsify election results. Voter fraud is committed by individual voters seeking to vote illegally. This is not a case of voters trying to cast illegal votes, but of campaign operatives falsifying and submitting forged illegal ballots. That's election fraud, which Democrats do not say doesn't exist. On the contrary, a number of researchers such as Mark Crispin Miller, Greg Palast and Jennifer Cohn have gathered evidence of manipulation of vote counts through alteration of electronic votes. Touch-screen voting machines are particularly easy to reprogram or hack.
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@Mike
Vote fraud committed by voters is statistically non existent. The fraud reported here is a different type of fraud.
And it wasn’t Democrat’s that said there is no vote fraud committed by voters. It was our law enforcement agencies.
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North Carolinians should be rising up and giving their elected officials an earful, in anticipation of Congress being the final arbiter of this decision.
Why oh why are we so confused as a country that we cannot see our way clear to affirming the fundamental right upon which this country is based?
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This is what our soldiers fight and die for? The Republican right to commit vote fraud?
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As a resident in the last and only district not currently represented in Congress, I must admit I'm concerned but perversely proud.
I moved to North Carolina almost 25 years ago. The idea of moving south of the Mason Dixon Line had never crossed my mind, but upon arrival, I found the state to have some curious dichotomies. It ranked relatively low in public education, yet had some of the best universities in the country. Busing students occurred, even if not official, yet it led the nation in adopting and implementing internet technologies for schools and hospitals.
Universities drove the development of technology and entrepreneurship in the Research Triangle. The influx of new residents from around the country, but especially the Northeast and California, drove a demand for more and better schools. Companies moved operations and headquarters here. It was not a reliably red state.
My concerns are twofold. First, this instance and the gerrymandering of districts reeks of regressive fraud. Second, the Republican "leadership" under once popular Charlotte mayor Pat McCrory took steps backward by defunding public education, stifling voting rights, and trying to undermine the power of governorship when a Democrat was elected.
But I'm proud this fraud was called out. Harris knew who he was engaging to help his campaign, but the state didn't blindly accept the results. The 9th District may yet get a rightful representative. Cross your fingers.
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Sadly, I don’t have high hopes that a new election won’t result in a GOP win due to the heavily gerrymandered nature of this district and the fact that the GOP will throw lots of money into the race. It’s likely that Harris will again run, though he shouldn’t be allowed due to the criminal activity of his campaign. Rest assured most Republican voters won’t be bothered by that fact, and bolstered that Harris is an anti-everything candidate who is called by god to have this seat.
Also, another campaign tactic that needs to be covered and uncovered is churches having their members request absentee/mail-in ballots that are then filled out during services with the guidance of clergy, and submitted. Another blatant case where separation of church and state has become a joke.
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"A witness...described efforts to disguise the misconduct and a recent push...to dissuade testimony..."
That could well mean "obstruction of justice" and "witness tampering" investigations and aftermaths could well be mucking up some peoples' futures maybe pretty badly...if politics doesn't play an interfering part.
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I think the board should call for a new election. The voters deserve the chance to reconsider their choice now they know Mr. Harris hired a crook, knowingly or not. It's time Republicans be held accountable for their behavior, just as they hold Democrats' feet to the fire.
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I have often read that mail ballots were a bigger source of voter fraud than ballots cast in person. Yet the Republicans have been railing against fraud at the polling stations and in many states have made casting a vote difficult, targeting minorities, poor people and the elderly with demands for official photo identification.
This NC affront to democracy stinks of being business as usual, not limited to this congressional election. Unfortunately, our SCOTUS had vitiated the Voting Rights Act and I see no move by the U.S. attorney general to investigate this assault on democracy.
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Representative Harris hired a criminal for his campaign. On learning that Dowless then committed crimes on his behalf, Harris displays no remorse, not does he see any reason to call for a new election. President Trump hired people for his campaign and for the White House who are now convicted felons, and others indicted. He offers no apology either.
I see a pattern.
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@C
Candidate Hillary Clinton hired crooks for her campaign, and essentially bought the DNC in 2016.
Debbie Wasserman Schultz had to resign to protect the higher-ups who were fully aware of what was going on to steal the candidacy, thus the election, from Sanders.
Scott Foval and Bob Creamer were fired as DNC operatives after it was exposed they were credibly preparing to organize widespread voter fraud in the Presidential election, and bragged on camera about it, and fomenting riots and manufactured incidents at Trump meetings. John Podesta knew, as did candidate Clinton herself. I must have missed her apology.
I, too, see a pattern.
@Chris When I learned what Schultz had done, I sent a contribution to her Democratic Primary opponent. I agree and acted that way. I invite you to do the same with Republicans
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@Chris, more whataboutism.
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I know for a fact that both parties engage in dubious and sometimes illegal campaign activities. I've participated in such, back in my young adulthood. I don't doubt that both parties continue with illegal acts to this day. We need better enforcement and tools as ironclad as possible to make fraud impossible. When fraud is IDed, independent bodies--not made up of Rs and Ds--need to investigate and determine wrongdoing. Only then will Americans regain trust in our system, and only then will they begin to re-engage and vote.
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"A political operative working on behalf of a Republican candidate for Congress oversaw an illegal absentee ballot “scheme” and went to elaborate lengths to conceal it..."
"Rampant voter fraud"...cry Trump and the Republicans!
OOPS!
Republicans get the 'fraud' part right...get the 'party' part wrong though...
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The GOP does not care about fraud, nor more than this party cares about Russian cybercrime. If their guy wins, so what that there was fraud.
The con has consequences. When is enough, enough?
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The threats to our country come from within. Once you accept that, what to do about it becomes clear. Like many conservatives now argue, we must stop voting for Republicans at every level of government until they clean house and rebuild the party.
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This demonstrates that the need to protect our democracy never ends. First, we found ourselves assaulted by the russians, now we're battling the enemy within; rogue elements of the republican party.
We must be relentless in our prosecution. This is the core of everything our American experiment in democracy rests on.
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@Sane citizen - rouge elements now seem to be synonymous with Republican. The 1st president I can remember, Eisenhower would be so ashamed of his party today. And where is the Bush family ? They should be leading a reclamation of their party.
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@Sane citizen
While I am totally against guilt by association, I have difficulty with your statement that "rogue" elements of the Republican party are to blame. Just look at the Republican side of the Senate to see how many blindly support the Don and Enabler Mitch in their efforts to turn the US into a one party country, or rather, one man dictatorship.
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I continue to be amazed at the casual arrogance with which the machine that the North Carolina GOP built operates. It appears that its reach may at last have exceeded it grasp.
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