by WorldTribune Staff, November 18, 2016
The campaign of Gov. Pat McCrory has filed ballot protests in 50 of North Carolina’s 100 counties.
McCrory, who trails Democrat Roy Cooper by about 5,000 votes, is challenging what the campaign said are known instances of votes being cast by dead people, felons or individuals who voted more than once.
“Now we know why Roy Cooper fought so hard against voter ID and other efforts to combat voter fraud as attorney general,” said Russell Peck, McCrory’s campaign manager.
“With each passing day, we discover more and more cases of voting fraud and irregularities. We intend to make sure that every vote is properly counted and serious voter fraud concerns are addressed before the results of the election can be determined.”
The new complaints are in addition to protests already filed by McCrory’s campaign claiming irregularities related to absentee ballots filed in a dozen counties.
“Gov. McCrory has set a new standard for desperation in his attempts to undermine the results of an election he lost,” said Cooper campaign spokesperson Fred Porter in a statement.
In Wake County, Democrats, Republicans and residents gathered in the Board of Elections warehouse as the board went through absentee and provisional ballots.
Wake Board of Elections Chairman Ellis Ross told ABC11 that the board expected to meet the Nov. 18 deadline for the canvass “with one caveat,” that being a federal court ruling requiring elections officials to review whether citizens who registered at the NC DMV were improperly kept off the voting rolls.
The State Board of Elections announced on Nov. 17 that county boards can delay their canvass for a “reasonable time.”
Meanwhile, the Durham County Board of Elections planned to hold a formal hearing Nov. 18 into concerns about the late addition of 94,000 early votes on election night which are said to have tipped the balance of the governor’s race to Cooper.