McCrae Dowless Indicted For Role In NC Election Fraud Case

CHARLOTTE, NC — Bladen County political operative McCrae Dowless was arrested Wednesday. The campaign employee who worked on behalf of Republican Mark Harris during his bid to represent North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District in the 2018 election was indicted by a grand jury for his role in an absentee ballot fraud scheme.

Dowless was charged with three felony counts of obstruction of justice, two counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two counts of possessing absentee ballots, Wake Forest District Attorney Lorrin Freeman said, the News & Observer reported. The charges stem from absentee ballot irregularities in Bladen County during the 2016 general election and the 2018 primary election.

Harris narrowly bested Democratic challenger Dan McCready for the House seat by 905 votes, however, allegations and evidence soon emerged indicating that Dowless illegally manipulated the vote tally through absentee ballot fraud.

His arrest comes one day after Harris cited personal health concerns in his announcement he would not be running again for the U.S. House seat in the upcoming special election.

North Carolina State Board of Elections officials unanimously voted for the special election Feb. 21.

"After consulting with my physicians, there are several things that my health situation requires as a result of the extremely serious condition that I faced in mid-January," he said in a statement Tuesday, the Charlotte Observer reported. "One of those is a necessary surgery that is now scheduled for the last week in March. Given my health situation, the need to regain full strength, and the timing of this surgery the last week of March, I have decided not to file in the new election."

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Harris has long denied knowing about the scheme and last month sued to force election officials to certify the results, claiming there wasn't enough evidence that the ballot tampering swayed the final result. On Feb. 21, however, and after days of testimony in a board of elections hearing on the matter including that of his son refuting his claims, Harris abruptly called for a new election.

RELATED:

• In Stunning Move, Harris Calls For New Election For NC House Seat
• Former Governor McCrory Says No To 9th District House Run
• Mark Harris Not Running In New 9th District House Race