North Carolina Republican Party officials accused state officials of being secretive and said they must swiftly certify a GOP congressional candidate the winner of an election unless they can present evidence the outcome of the contest was changed by illegal activity. The call comes as state election officials continue to probe irregularities in the race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready in the state’s 9th Congressional District. In those two counties, there was an unusually high number of absentee ballots that went unreturned to state officials. The state board does not have to show irregularities could have changed the outcome of an election to order a new one. Last week Dallas Woodhouse, the executive director of the North Carolina GOP, said the party would also support a new election if state officials determined early vote numbers were leaked in Bladen County, something he said was “fairly certain” had happened.

Source: Huffington Post December 18, 2018 00:45 UTC