A GOP-led voter fraud scheme allegedly skewed a House race in North Carolina


It's been three weeks since Election Day, but one congressional race is still up in the air.
North Carolina's election officials still haven't certified who won the state's 9th District, and voted Friday to further investigate the race's results. That's because several stories of absentee voting gone wrong have surfaced since Election Day, The Washington Post reports.
The most recent results put Mark Harris (R) over Dan McCready (D) by about 1,800 votes, per The New York Times. But a "flurry of affidavits" have since poured in from voters in rural Bladen County, which "had the highest percentage of absentee ballot requests in the state," The Charlotte Observer writes. Some voters say people came to their house and illegally asked for their absentee ballots, even if they weren't filled out, signed, or sealed, the affidavits detail. Others say they received absentee ballots in the mail without requesting them. McCready easily won over absentee voters in all of the 9th District's counties except for Bladen, suggesting a Harris-paid consultant could be "at the center" of a fraud scheme, the Observer writes.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The state board of elections has since unanimously refused to certify the election's results and passed a motion saying it would assess the "claims of numerous irregularities and concerted fraudulent activities related to absentee mail ballots." The office is likely weeks away from announcing official results and may even hold a new election, per the Post.
The 9th District is one of many North Carolina districts a federal court ruled were gerrymandered in favor of Republicans. Explore a map of these controversial districts at The New York Times.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Kathryn is a graduate of Syracuse University, with degrees in magazine journalism and information technology, along with hours to earn another degree after working at SU's independent paper The Daily Orange. She's currently recovering from a horse addiction while living in New York City, and likes to share her extremely dry sense of humor on Twitter.
-
Weer at Soho Theatre Walthamstow: a 'silly, seductive, slapstick joy'
The Week Recommends Natalie Palamides' 'tear-inducingly funny' one-woman show opens London's newest venue
-
Can the world stop Israel from starving Gaza?
Today's Big Question Total blockade on food and aid enters its third month, and Israel is accused of 'weaponising starvation'
-
The timely revival of watchmaking
Under The Radar Artisan horology is enjoying a surprising resurgence
-
Hollywood confounded by Trump's film tariff idea
speed read President Trump proposed a '100% tariff' on movies 'produced in foreign lands'
-
Trump offers migrants $1,000 to 'self-deport'
speed read The Department of Homeland Security says undocumented immigrants can leave the US in a more 'dignified way'
-
Trump is not sure he must follow the Constitution
speed read When asked about due process for migrants in a TV interview, President Trump said he didn't know whether he had to uphold the Fifth Amendment
-
Trump judge bars deportations under 1798 law
speed read A Trump appointee has ruled that the president's use of a wartime act for deportations is illegal
-
Trump ousts Waltz as NSA, taps him for UN role
speed read President Donald Trump removed Mike Waltz as national security adviser and nominated him as U.S. ambassador to the United Nations
-
Trump blames Biden for tariffs-linked contraction
speed read The US economy shrank 0.3% in the first three months of 2025, the Commerce Department reported
-
Trump says he could bring back Ábrego García but won't
Speed Read At a rally to mark his 100th day in office, the president doubled down on his unpopular immigration and economic policies
-
Canada's Liberals, Carney win national election
Speed Read The party of Prime Minister Mark Carney beat Conservative Pierre Poilievre thanks in part to Trump's trade war