The political operative at the center of an election fraud scandal that has engulfed a North Carolina congressional race was arrested Wednesday on charges of illegal ballot handling and conspiracy.
Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., 63, was accused of directing workers to collect and mail in other people's absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary and the 2016 general election.
Prosecutors are still investigating evidence of ballot tampering by Dowless and others during last fall's congressional election in the mostly rural 9th District, which includes part of Charlotte and extends eastward across several counties.
Dowless was arrested less than a week after the state elections board decided his work on behalf of Mark Harris, starting with the primary, tainted the GOP candidate's apparent victory in November.
Harris led McCready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast last fall, but the state elections board refused to certify Harris as the winner because of the fraud suspicions.
Last week, Harris abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and called for a new election, acknowledging his lead was tainted by the allegations.
The four other people charged were paid by Dowless to collect ballots during the spring of 2018, when Dowless and his team were on the Harris campaign payroll, and in the 2016 general election, when Dowless himself ran for a local soil and water conservation post, prosecutors said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-north-carolina-mcrae-dowless-charged-20190227-story.html
Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr., 63, was accused of directing workers to collect and mail in other people's absentee ballots during the 2018 Republican congressional primary and the 2016 general election.
Prosecutors are still investigating evidence of ballot tampering by Dowless and others during last fall's congressional election in the mostly rural 9th District, which includes part of Charlotte and extends eastward across several counties.
Dowless was arrested less than a week after the state elections board decided his work on behalf of Mark Harris, starting with the primary, tainted the GOP candidate's apparent victory in November.
Harris led McCready by 905 votes out of about 280,000 cast last fall, but the state elections board refused to certify Harris as the winner because of the fraud suspicions.
Last week, Harris abruptly dropped his bid to be declared the winner and called for a new election, acknowledging his lead was tainted by the allegations.
The four other people charged were paid by Dowless to collect ballots during the spring of 2018, when Dowless and his team were on the Harris campaign payroll, and in the 2016 general election, when Dowless himself ran for a local soil and water conservation post, prosecutors said.
https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/politics/ct-north-carolina-mcrae-dowless-charged-20190227-story.html
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