McCrae Dowless, the political operative who emerged as a central figure in the investigation into irregularities in North Carolina’s 9th congressional district, was arrested and charged with a series of charges related to his handling of absentee ballots in the 2016 general election and 2018 primary, WRAL reports.

Dan McCready (D) kicked off his campaign for a new 9th congressional district election in North Carolina, saying the people of the district need representation, the Charlotte Observer reports.

Asked whether opponent Mark Harris (R) had disqualified himself from the election during the fraud investigation, McCready said, “That’s a question for the people to decide. I think he’s going to need a few days.”

Mark Harris (R) called for a new election in North Carolina’s disputed 9th congressional district race, the Washington Post reports.

The North Carolina State Board of Elections is hearing evidence this week to decide whether a suspected ballot-tampering scheme tainted the outcome where Harris leads Dan McCready (D) by 905 votes in unofficial returns.

“The son of Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris testified Wednesday that he warned his father repeatedly that he believed a political operative now at the center of an election-fraud investigation had previously used illegal tactics to win votes,” the Washington Post reports.

“John Harris, now an assistant U.S. attorney in Raleigh, said he advised his father in conversations and emails that he believed Leslie McCrae Dowless was ‘shady’ and appeared to have illegally collected absentee ballots in 2016 while working for a different Republican candidate in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District.”

“State election officials in North Carolina said that a political operative for Republican Mark Harris orchestrated a ‘coordinated, unlawful, and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme’ in the 9th Congressional District last year, hiding evidence of the operation as it unfolded and obstructing the state’s investigation after the election,” the Washington Post reports.

“Those explosive charges opened an evidentiary hearing in Raleigh Monday, where the North Carolina State Board of Elections began listening to witness testimony to decide whether enough ballots were tampered with to taint the outcome of the 9th District race.”

The Charlotte Observer has more on the hearing.

“Investigators on Monday will begin revealing the breadth of an alleged ballot-tampering scheme in North Carolina, launching a potentially bitter and partisan battle over how to fill a congressional seat that has remained vacant since January,” the Washington Post reports.

“The election has been in limbo since November, when evidence surfaced that a political operative paid by Republican candidate Mark Harris had assembled a crew of election workers to collect mail-in ballots from voters, a felony in North Carolina. With Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes, the board declined to certify the results and launched a wide-reaching investigation instead.”

Mark Harris (R), in the nation’s last undecided congressional election, told the AP that “he recruited a political operative now at the center of a ballot fraud investigation because he produced election results in his rural North Carolina county and other Republicans vouched for him.”

“Harris said he didn’t know before November’s election that state elections board investigators found evidence that operative Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. may have illegally handled ballots in 2016. Harris said he didn’t know that that evidence was referred to federal prosecutors. A background check by Harris’ political consultants missed Dowless’ previous felony convictions for insurance fraud and perjury.”

“The investigation into North Carolina’s alleged election fraud moved closer to a possible February resolution when Gov. Roy Cooper (D) named a new state elections board to oversee the probe of the last undecided congressional race in the nation,” the Charlotte Observer reports.

“The chairman of the new State Board of Elections said a vote could come next month on whether to certify the election of Republican Mark Harris or order a new election in the 9th Congressional District.”

A judge ruled that North Carolina’s investigation into election fraud by the Mark Harris (R) congressional campaign will continue, the Charlotte Observer reports.

“Harris is the Republican candidate who appeared to narrowly win an election for North Carolina’s 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 elections. But the state has not officially certified his victory, due to an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud related to mail-in absentee ballots.”