Kim Strach, director of the North Carolina Board of Elections, presented suggestions to the state House Committee on Elections and Ethics Law Wednesday to prevent the alleged absentee ballot fraud in the 9th District from ever happening again.
Some of her offerings included prepaid postage for absentee ballots, as the expense or hassle of finding a stamp is an “incentive” for ballot collection. She also called for more staff and funding for emergency monitoring and compliance, especially for smaller counties.
Besides the more logistical fixes, Strach suggested imposing stiffer penalties on people who interfere in the election process.
Strach’s board released its findings so far in the 9th District investigation earlier on Wednesday, nearly 50 pages of damning details about how McCrae Dowless, campaign operative for Republican Mark Harris, manipulated the absentee ballot voting process in the 2018 congressional election. The order puts Harris in an extremely unflattering — and possibly criminal — light as well, and promises further action.
