A judge in North Carolina on Tuesday rejected Republican candidate Mark Harris' request to certify the results of the state's disputed 9th congressional district race.

The final tally from the November election has Harris leading Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes. The state's election board said it could not certify the results because it is investigating allegations that a man working on behalf of a firm hired by Harris illegally collected absentee ballots. To make things even more complicated, the election board that launched the investigation was ruled unconstitutional and dissolved, The News Observer reports, and the next board won't be created until Jan. 31 or later.

During the hearing, Wake County Superior Court Paul Ridgeway said "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." Harris and McCready did not attend the hearing, but afterwards, a spokesman for McCready said "the most important thing is that people get the answer they deserve," and he believes "both sides agree that it's important that the people of North Carolina have a voice in Washington." Catherine Garcia