‘COLLUSION’: Dan Forest Requests AG Bill Barr Investigate Recent NC Board of Elections, AG Josh Stein for Election Interference

RALEIGH – The plot just thickened.

After the only two Republican members of the N.C. State Board of Elections resigned, citing recent deception by Democrats in an effort to loosen rules around absentee voting, Lieutenant Governor Dan Forest has sent a letter to U.S. Attorney General William Barr requesting he immediately investigate recent actions by the North Carolina State Board of Elections and Attorney General Josh Stein “that will undermine the integrity of our November elections.”

The letter:

“September 24, 2020

I am formally requesting that the United States Department of Justice investigate the collusive attack on the integrity of North Carolina’s elections by the North Carolina State Board of Elections and the office of North Carolina Attorney General Josh Stein.

As you may be aware, liberal groups from Washington D.C. have swarmed into North Carolina to file lawsuit after lawsuit against North Carolina, seeking to change, by judicial and executive fiat, laws that were constitutionally passed by our General Assembly.

This week, in the case of N.C. Alliance for Retired Americans, et al. v. N.C. State Board of Elections, et al. the Democratic Attorney General and the Democratic-controlled Board of Elections entered into a collusive agreement with the Democratic plaintiffs to enact, without the consent of the legislature, wholesale changes to the absentee ballot laws of North Carolina. They have effectively gutted provisions that ensure a quick resolution of the election, witness requirements for absentee ballots, and the requirement that the in-person drop-off of absentee ballots be by the voter or the voter’s near relative. These provisions of our election law were put into place by wide, bipartisan margins to prevent the disaster that happened in the 2018 election for North Carolina’s 9th U.S. House District, which was voided because of illegal ballot harvesting.

This is especially concerning because our Democratic Governor, Roy Cooper, has fought tooth-and-nail against the Board of Elections being an independent body rather than a partisan body under his complete control. The fact that an executive agency would dare enter into an agreement that attempts to make substantial changes to our election law less than six weeks before the election raises serious concerns about the motives of all involved. It also raises serious legal concerns.

I am requesting that the Department of Justice review these actions to determine whether any federal laws may have been violated, as these actions will no doubt impact the Presidential, Senatorial, and Congressional elections in North Carolina. Further, I am requesting that the Department of Justice review whether this election interference necessitates federal intervention under the Guarantee Clause of Article IV, Section IV of the United States Constitution.

Please feel free to reach out to me or my office if we can be of any assistance in this matter.

Sincerely,
Daniel J. Forest
Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina”