The Latest: Letter warned North Carolina absentee voters
RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) — The Latest on the North Carolina 9th Congressional District race (all times local):
6 p.m.
North Carolina election officials apparently were worried about people unlawfully taking mail-in absentee ballots from residents of one county and filling them out this fall.
The state elections board released some documents Tuesday related to its investigation of alleged absentee ballot fraud in Bladen County, which includes part of the 9th Congressional District. The board declined last week to certify the results favoring Republican Mark Harris because of its investigation.
The board sent letters in late October and early November warning people who had requested absentee ballots that only the voter or a near relative can mail a completed ballot or take it to the county elections board.
In affidavits offered by the state Democratic Party, voters described a woman coming to their homes to collect absentee ballots, whether or not they had been completed properly. State law bars this kind of "harvesting" of absentee ballots.
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5:30 p.m.
The investigation into allegations of absentee voter fraud in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District has spilled over into debate among legislators about a bill implementing a new constitutional amendment that requires photo identification to vote in person.
A state House committee voted along party lines Tuesday for a measure that lays out the types of qualifying photo IDs and the exceptions to the constitutional mandate.
An amendment approved by the committee would require most people who use mail-in absentee ballots to include a photocopy of a qualifying ID in the ballot envelope or show the ID to county elections officials later. That would appear to mute some criticism that Republican leaders have avoided clamping down on absentee ballot fraud.
House Minority Leader Darren Jackson voted against the legislation and says the measure still doesn't address the problems like those the 9th District investigation is examining.
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3:30 p.m.
A top House Democrat says North Carolina needs to resolve allegations of voter fraud before Republican Mark Harris can join Congress.
Incoming Majority Leader Rep. Steny Hoyer of Maryland said Tuesday that a "very substantial question" about fraud exists. Unofficial ballot totals show Harris, a Baptist minister, leading Democrat Dan McCready, an Iraq War veteran, by 905 votes. Hoyer says he hopes state officials "get to the bottom" of the controversy. He says Harris is "not eligible for being sworn into the House" at this point.
State election officials have refused to certify the results amid allegations of voter irregularities involving mail-in ballots. The elections board has said it will hold a hearing on the allegations on or before Dec. 21. The board can call for a new election if it finds problems.
Hoyer was discussing whether the House Administration Committee, which has some authority over determining the propriety of elections, will get involved.
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1:15 p.m.
One of the nation's last unresolved fall congressional races is awash in doubt as North Carolina election investigators concentrate on a rural county where absentee-ballot fraud allegations are so flagrant they've put the Election Day result into question.
Final unofficial ballot totals had shown Republican Mark Harris ahead of Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the 9th Congressional District, which covers eight south-central counties.
But the state elections board refused to certify the results last week with all the other Election Day contests, with the board's new chairman pointing to "claims of numerous irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities" involving mail-in ballots.
The probe appears connected to the activities of a longtime political operative from Bladen County, where allegations about mail-in absentee ballots initially surfaced two years ago.
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This item has corrected the number of counties in the 9th District to eight.
