LUMBERTON — The smoke rising from the political fight over the state Elections Board and its investigation of fraud allegations related to a congressional race have left a local lawyer and the local Board of Elections in a cloud of uncertainty.
While not commenting about his status as chairman of the N.C. State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement, Joshua Malcolm, of Pembroke, did say he is ready to serve on the state board again — if called to do so.
“If the governor calls me and requests that I serve again and that I would be a helpful and a positive influence I’d be happy to serve on the state Board of Elections,” Malcolm said Friday.
Gov. Roy Cooper appointed Malcolm, who also is general counsel for The University of North Carolina at Pembroke, state board chairman on Dec. 3.
A state District Court ruled Thursday that the current state Elections Board be dissolved as of noon Friday because the law passed in 2016 by the Republican-controlled General Assembly was unconstitutional. The ruling came as lawmakers enacted on Thursday a new law to largely restore the board to how it operated before 2016.
“There has to be a seated board to enforce and carry out the statutory responsibilities,” Malcolm said. “It’s (board) been in existence for decades and decades.”
On Friday, Cooper began the process of forming an interim state Elections Board that will serve until the new law goes into effect Jan. 31. One of the reasons Cooper gave for forming an interim board is so the ongoing investigation into elections fraud related to absentee ballots cast in the District 9 congressional race can continue uninterrupted.
The congressional race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready was not certified by the state elections board, nor was the District Court Seat 2 race in Robeson County. The fear is absentee ballot irregularities may have affected the District 9 race.
The District 9 race results were not certified before the state board was dissolved Friday, according to state board spokesman Patrick Gannon.
“Agency staff members continue to actively investigate 9th Congressional District irregularities and perform all other elections-related functions,” Gannon wrote Friday in an email.
As for the Robeson County board, it will continue to exist as a four-person panel until the new state Elections Board selects new members to all county boards in the state, said Steve Stone, county board chairman. The board probably will have three people on it because that was its structure before the General Assembly changed the law in 2016.
In the meantime, the county board must prepare for the Jan. 29 special election to fill two empty seats on the Lumberton City Council. There also is the possibility that the local board will be called upon to organize special elections for the District 9 U.S. House seat and the District Court Seat 2 seat.
A press release issued Friday by the Governor’s Office indicates Cooper sent a letter to the leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties requesting nominations for the state Elections Board by close of business Friday.
“These members will serve until a new board is convened on January 31, 2019 per HB 1029,” the release reads in part.
Republican Party Chairman Robin Hayes said Friday afternoon that he would not submit new names. He believes Cooper’s action is illegal, Hayes said.
In response, Cooper spokesman Ford Porter issued a statement that reads, “The Governor is following the law and the Republican Party Chairman should, too. His refusal to submit nominees and his directive to stop potential nominees from accepting appointment is an attempt to impede and obstruct an ongoing investigation. Empty chairs on the Board of Elections help no one.”
Harris demanded Friday that the state board certify the District 9 results, which show he leads McCready by 905 votes.
Hayes issued a statement Friday that reads in part, “The North Carolina Republican Party has encouraged the Mark Harris campaign to take immediate legal action in federal court to force the State of North Carolina to do what it is required to legally, constitutionally, and morally do: certify Dr. Mark Harris the winner of North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District election. The events of the last 24 hours make clear Mark Harris is the Congressman-Elect and should be seated in Congress on January 3, 2019.
“The North Carolina Democrat Party and losing candidate Democrat Dan McCready have run out of options in their quest to throw out 280,000 legal votes, the majority of which went for Dr. Harris. The court stopped this unending quest by Democrat partisans on the State Board to overrule the will of the voters.”
The McCready campaign fired back quickly.
Campaign spokesman Aaron Simpson released a statement that reads, “Over the past month, it has become abundantly clear that North Carolinians had their voices silenced during the election in North Carolina’s Ninth District. Mark Harris and his allies promised to support a complete investigation into this attack on our democracy.
“He has now broken this promise and is instead doing all he can to obstruct this bipartisan investigation into the illegal election activities within his own campaign. All North Carolinians — regardless of party — deserve a swift and complete investigation without panicked obstruction from Mark Harris. Now more than ever we deserve to know what Mark Harris knew and when he knew it.”
U.S. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer issued a statement Friday saying House Democrats won’t allow Harris to be sworn in next week because of the ongoing investigation.
“Given the now well-documented election fraud that took place in NC-09, Democrats would object to any attempt by Mr. Harris to be seated on January 3,” Hoyer said, adding that “the integrity of our democratic process outweighs concerns about the seat being vacant at the start of the new Congress.”
The U.S. Constitution states that the House is the judge of the elections of its members and the final arbiter of contests.
