North Carolina To Rerun US House Race After 'Tainted' Midterm Election - Board

Mohammad Ali (@ChaudhryMAli88) Published February 22, 2019 | 05:42 AM

The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) in a statement announced that a new midterm contest will be held for a seat in the US House of Representatives representing the ninth congressional district

WASHINGTON (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 22nd February, 2019) The North Carolina State Board of Elections (NCSBE) in a statement announced that a new midterm contest will be held for a seat in the US House of Representatives representing the ninth congressional district.

"NCSBE voted unanimously Thursday to order a new election in NC's 9th Congressional District," the board said in a Twitter message after a hearing over the matter. "The State Board will set the dates of the election at a subsequent meeting."

Board chairman Bob Cordle said evidence of voting irregularities indicates the November 6 midterm election results in the district race were "tainted," the local Laurinburg Exchange news reported.

The Reverend Mark Harris who had been elected as the Republican candidate in the now discredited vote agreed with the move.

"I believe a new election should be called," Harris said at the hearing on Thursday.

"It's become clear to me that public confidence in the 9th District has been undermined to an extent that a new election is warranted."

Harris led Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes out of 282,717 ballots cast - or less than one percent. However, Harris was accused of hiring political operatives to forge mail-in ballots in two rural counties, the Washington Post reported.

The November 6, 2018 midterm elections were marred by allegations of voting irregularities including restrictions and methods that rights groups said disenfranchised Blacks, Native Americans and other minority groups.

November's midterm left Congress a legislative branch divided after the Democratic Party flipped what would eventually be around 40 seats to take control of the 435-member House of Representatives while Republicans kept a majority in the Senate and even gained two seats.