McCrory campaign files 11 additional protests

RALEIGH — On the heels of protests filed in Bladen County related to voter fraud concerns, Gov. Pat McCrory’s campaign has filed protests in 11 additional counties. According to the McCrory campaign, the new filings are related to the previous discovery of fraudulent absentee ballots in Bladen County, suggesting the same illegal measures employed there, involving Political Action Committees funded by the North Carolina Democratic Party, may also have been employed in counties across the state.”It appears that our worst fears have come true and this absentee ballot fraud scheme may run deeper than just Bladen County,” said Russell Peck, Pat McCrory’s campaign manager. “Unfortunately, we may also have uncovered the real reason Roy Cooper fought so hard against efforts to prevent voter fraud as attorney general. These voter fraud concerns must be addressed before the results of the election can be finalized.”As previously reported, NCDP donated to the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, an organization allegedly involved in filling out fraudulent absentee ballots. The McCrory campaign claims the NCDP simultaneously transferred money to political action committees in 11 other counties. Absentee voting and handwriting patterns seen in Bladen County have been discovered in at least one of these counties, the McCrory campaign said, suggesting these PACs may have been harvesting and witnessing multiple absentee ballots as well.A protest was filed Thursday in Halifax County and additional protests are being filed by registered voters in Durham, Edgecombe, Franklin, Guilford, Nash, Northampton, Robeson, Vance, Wake and Warren counties. The protests urge each county board of elections conduct a full scale investigation into these absentee ballots and review all witness signatures on these absentee ballot envelopes to look for evidence of obvious ballot harvesting.These protests also request that the county election boards review the envelopes before certifying the final number of lawful votes on Friday.Less than 5,000 votes separate incumbent Republican Gov. Pat McCrory and Democratic challenger Attorney General Roy Cooper. Final canvassing results from all 100 county board of elections are due Friday, Nov. 18.