Judge denies Mark Harris request to certify his win despite election fraud investigation

Source: Charlotte Observer

The state’s investigation into election fraud by the Mark Harris campaign will continue, a judge ruled Tuesday morning.

Harris is the Republican candidate who appeared to narrowly win an election for North Carolina’s 9th District seat in the U.S. House of Representatives in the 2018 elections. But the state has not officially certified his victory, due to an ongoing investigation into alleged fraud related to mail-in absentee ballots.

Harris and his legal team had asked Wake County Superior Court Judge Paul Ridgeway to order the state to certify the results of the election despite the investigation, which could then send Harris to Congress. At around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday, following two hours of arguments from Harris’ lawyers as well as lawyers for the state and his Democratic opponent Dan McCready, Ridgeway said he would deny Harris’ request.

“This is an extremely unusual situation, with no board in place, and asking this court to step in and exert extraordinary power in declaring the winner of an election, when that is clearly the purview of another branch of government,” he said during the hearing.

Read more: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/politics-government/article224889035.html