The citizens of the Ninth Congressional District of the newly insane state of North Carolina remain unrepresented in the House of Representatives. Not only that, but the rat's nest of ratfcking has become more complicated. From the AP:

The Republican in the nation’s last undecided congressional election said Monday he recruited a political operative now at the center of a ballot fraud investigation because he produced election results in his rural North Carolina county and other Republicans vouched for him. Mark Harris said he didn’t know before November’s election that state elections board investigators found evidence that operative Leslie McCrae Dowless Jr. may have illegally handled ballots in 2016. Harris said he didn’t know that that evidence was referred to federal prosecutors. A background check by Harris’ political consultants missed Dowless’ previous felony convictions for insurance fraud and perjury, Harris said in an interview with The Associated Press.

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The explanation from Harris, the Republican, is a real doozy. He wanted to hire the local ratfcker because the ratfcker had been so successful in ratfcking one of Harris's previous campaigns.

Harris said he decided he wanted Dowless on his 2018 team after noting Dowless’ candidate — who was Harris’ opponent — in the 2016 GOP primary got an incredible 98 percent of Bladen County’s absentee votes. He said he discussed with a campaign attorney after that 2016 primary whether to protest the anomalous result, but ultimately decided to drop the matter.

McCrae Dowless Jr. The Washington Post Getty Images

“The reason that I wanted to hire McCrae Dowless is that, one, I had seen his success and that he beat us in 2016,” Harris said. “But number two, I had, basically, the statements from elected officials and respected leaders in the community that the landscape was changing down there and that McCrae Dowless had been a very important part of that.” With Dowless’ help, Harris beat the incumbent, U.S. Rep. Robert Pittenger, in last year’s primary. Pittenger has said he shunned Dowless because he was suspicious of his methods. State elections officials suspect Dowless of tampering with or even discarding mail-in ballots last year.

And how was this previous ratfcking accomplished?

In 2016, Dowless paid people to visit Bladen County voters and collect absentee ballots from them, a potential felony under North Carolina law, elections board investigators said in a January 2018 report. “Workers employed by Dowless were required to hand-carry the ballots to Dowless in order to be paid,” the report said. Dowless declined to answer questions about Harris’ campaign when contacted by phone Monday.

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The N&O, which has been all over this burlesque, put together a handy precis of the lead players—especially McCrae Dowless, the enthusiastic collector of absentee ballots.

A convicted felon, elected official and the “guru of Bladen County.” Dowless has been active in politics for at least a decade, running “get out the vote” efforts for local candidates. He’s also the longtime host of “Politicians Appreciation Day” in Bladen County, an event held every two years where candidates give short stump speeches as dozens of voters and party officials eat barbecue. He’s accused of hiring people to collect absentee ballots, an illegal practice known as “harvesting.”

Dowless is a Soil & Water District commissioner in Bladen, an election he won in 2016. That year, he worked for Todd Johnson, a Republican challenger for the 9th District who won 221 out of 226 absentee votes in Bladen. In 2018, Harris’ campaign hired him through Red Dome Group. Dowless has denied wrongdoing, through his attorney, and has declined to speak with state election investigators.

The Democratic candidate, Dan McCready, has gone to ground, after first suggesting that Harris should be locked up if he had anything to do with the alleged ratfcking. Harris has denied from jump that he knew anything about it—an assertion that carries a whiff of implausibility since he's also said that he hired the ratfcker because of how successful he was at ratfcking one of Harris's own campaigns.

Dan McCready The Washington Post Getty Images

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Anyway, next week, the state board of elections is supposed either to certify Harris's victory or call of a new elections. However, even that may not be the end of it.

Its decision could be superseded by the U.S. House, where Democrats in the charge of the chamber have suggested they may review the election no matter what the state board does. The U.S. Constitution says the House is the judge of the elections and qualifications of its members. Still, it would be a stretch for the House to step in if the state election board clears Harris and certifies him as the winner after its investigation, the Republican said. “That would be a strong, strong step or leap to take,” he said. “I do think everybody has appreciated and enjoyed the fact that elections are decided and determined by the states and this should be a North Carolina issue.”

They won't fck themselves, people. They never do.

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