The pot calling the kettle CORRUPT

Nationwide, Democrats have had some success in snatching election victories away from Republicans AFTER election day.  Now, it looks like they might be giving it a try on a North Carolina congressional race:

The 9th Congressional District race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready is not over. The State Board of Elections Tuesday declined to certify the results of the race, even though all counties have certified their votes and Harris is ahead by 905 votes.

The vice chair of the board, Joshua Malcolm, said he would no longer “turn a blind eye” to what he called “unfortunate activities.” Malcolm, a Democrat, dropped a bombshell.

“I’m very familiar with the unfortunate activities that have happened in my part of the state,” Malcolm said during the meeting. “And I am not going to turn a blind eye to what took place to the best of my understanding, which has been ongoing for a number of years, and which has been repeatedly referred to the United States Attorney and the District Attorneys to clean up. Those things have not taken place.” […]

Wow.  Maybe he’s finally decided to come clean about our shared home county. Robeson County set the standard for election hijinks.  Chicago can’t hold a candle to what the politicos down there pull off on a regular basis.

MORE:

[…] Malcolm did not elaborate after making that statement. The board went into session, and then declined to certify the results. It cited a state statute that allows the board to “take any action to ensure that an election is determined “without taint of fraud or corruption and without irregularities.”

Malcolm is from Robeson County, which is in the 9th District. He was appointed by former Republican Governor Patrick McCrory in 2013, and re-appointed to the board by Democratic governor Roy Cooper.

He did not give specifics about what might have happened. In a follow-up interview with WFAE Tuesday evening, Malcolm said the board members are not allowed to discuss what’s said in closed session.

“The board has the authority and has the duty to ensure that when it certifies an election that what’s being certified represents the will of the people,” Malcolm told WFAE.

Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the N.C. Republican Party, said the allegations appear to be about Bladen County, one of two counties won by Harris. Woodhouse did not say why he believes Bladen County is the focus, but added: “If someone is going to steal votes out of Bladen County, they have to steal well more than 1,000. Because you don’t know what the margin is going to be… I mean that’s crazy.”

He said the board should have certified the results, because McCready never contested the race and Bladen County has certified all of its results. 

The Bladen County Elections Board voted 3-1 earlier this month to certify the results. Board member Al Daniels was the one no vote, but he declined to say why he voted no. 

Bobby Ludlum, the chair of the board, said Tuesday night that there were four attorneys from the McCready campaign when the board reviewed provisional and absentee-by-mail ballots.

He said to his knowledge they “didn’t find anything out of the ordinary.” He also said he has “no idea” what the problem could be.

Harris won Bladen County by 1,557 votes. Overall, Harris is ahead by 905 votes.

McCready conceded the race the day after the Nov. 6 election, and Harris is already making plans to be sworn in in January.[…] 

I’ve been around Robeson County politics for a long, long, long time.  To hear someone like Josh Malcolm bemoan alleged election monkey business in someone else’s county is absolutely incredible.  

ONE Lumberton City Council precinct had to re-do its voting for THREE CONSECUTIVE ELECTION CYCLES because there was so much cheating. Malcolm’s hometown of Pembroke has had its share of tainted municipal elections.   The US House convened a hearing in the county in 1997 on vote fraud.

There are actually certain people you can visit in Robeson County the night before the election who can give you the exact results for every race in the county — down to the percentage — hours before the first polling place even opens.  

Mr. Malcolm ought to know cheating when he sees it.

Anyone who has been involved in Robeson politics has experienced it.  But it takes some gall to attack another county while remaining silent on your own county’s shenanigans.

If we’re going to give Bladen elections a colonoscopy, let’s pony up for a deep probe of neighboring Robeson County’s voting, too.