By now, you know that there may be additional grounds to call for a new election in NC-09. In addition to the rampant fraud involving absentee ballots in Bladen County, we now know that early voting totals in that county were run sooner than legally permitted, and viewed by unauthorized personnel.
A lot of people, including several Kossacks, have suggested that this is just a deflection from the staggeringly criminal activities of McCrae Dowless and his absentee ballot operation—and is at worst a technicality. Well, speaking as someone who lives next door to this district, there’s a very big reason why the leaking of early votes is a BFD in and of itself—and may possibly be related to the absentee ballot fraud.
The reason is buried in The New York Times’ writeup about the discovery of the leaked votes.
The Democratic Party released an affidavit by Agnes Willis, an assistant who worked for the elections board in Bladen County, who said that on Nov. 3, the last day of early voting, the tape showing election results “was run after the polls closed, and was viewed by officials” who were not election judges.
A lawyer for the Democrats later wrote to the state elections board, saying that Democrats had learned that Bladen County officials had illegally leaked absentee vote totals to Republicans, but had withheld them from Democrats. (emphasis mine)
This is way, way, way more than just a technicality. For those who don’t know, early voting totals are a potential gold mine of information in the last 72 hours before an election. If someone were to get their hands on that information, he would have a nearly insurmountable advantage in knowing what voters needed to get to the polls.
That explains why the North Carolina GOP reversed itself so quickly. It had previously insisted that a new election was only appropriate if there was hard, quantifiable evidence that the fraud affected the outcome. But that stance is untenable in the face of evidence that somebody on the ground in Bladen County knew this information in advance. State GOP executive director Dallas Woodhouse put it best—this was “a competitive advantage that cannot stand.”
Given that Dowless’ fingerprints are all over the massive absentee ballot fraud, you at least have to wonder if people affiliated with his operation were among those who viewed the totals. Indeed, it would be grossly derelict not to ask that question. But whether Dowless was involved in this or not, any Republican operative who viewed those totals and/or used them for an undue advantage better have a lawyer on speed dial.