Cooper Stacks Board of Elections with Democrat Cronies Amid Fraud Investigation

RALEIGH – The Democrat former chairman of the State Board of Elections resigned over the weekend after complaints were filed about hyper-partisan tweets, so Gov. Roy Cooper was tasked with selecting a replacement. Republicans urged the governor to select someone that could inspire confidence on both sides of the aisle amid a ballooning fraud investigation into the 9th District congressional race between Republican Mark Harris and Democrat Dan McCready.

Instead, Cooper elevated a partisan hack already on the Board to position of chairman, and then selected a new replacement for his seat that is equally concerning.

Joshua McDowell, a Democrat from Robeson County, was one of the first members to hint at “unfortunate activities” apparent in the 9th District. He also said they’d been going on for years, and vowed to no longer turn a blind eye to it all.

For years?

Allegations of possible vote fraud were made in 2016 after the razor thin victory of Roy Cooper over Republican Pat McCrory. Malcolm was on the Board at the time, but instead of regarding the issue as worthy of investigation, he voted to dismiss it. Now, however, Malcolm is all for delaying certification of the 2018 9th District election due to fraud that has been going on in his part of the state “for a number of years.”

Beyond the clear double standard, exactly how long has Malcolm been aware of “unfortunate activities” (fraud) going on in his part of the state? What did he know? Did he have information, as a member of the State Board of Elections, that indicated fraud took place in his own back yard and then refuse to do anything about it?

Now he is chairman of the Board.

The person replacing Malcolm as a regular member of the Board is Robert Cordle, an attorney with connections to Democrats Jim Black and Mike Easley, both convicted of improprieties while in office.

So after Cooper’s original pick to chair the Board was forced to resign for being a blatantly partisan hack, instead of a public servant fairly overseeing elections, why would he stack the Board with even more partisan hacks? Is he tone deaf, or protecting himself?

Going back to the 2016 gubernatorial election challenges, those allegations centered around the same ‘improper witness’ violations that are currently the subject of so much interest to the 9th District investigation.

Here’s a side-by-side comparison of the complaints made against the Bladen County Improvement Association in ‘16 vs. the complaints against Dowless in ‘18. Same claims of improper witnessing as well as the potential of illegal ballot harvesting. #NC09 #NCPOL pic.twitter.com/kJKFbqHhD9

— Brent Woodcox (@BrentWoodcox) December 4, 2018

The 2016 complaints focused on a Bladen County organization funded by Democrats that was allegedly harvesting votes to benefit Cooper.

Another weird aspect of the story is that McCrae Dowless, the man at the center of the 2018 investigation in #NC09, is the very same man who was the center of absentee ballot complaints made against the Bladen County Improvement Association in the #NCGOV race in 2016. #NCPOL pic.twitter.com/Rw5aZWQYDZ

— Brent Woodcox (@BrentWoodcox) December 4, 2018

Hmmmm. So those allegations didn’t meet threshold for an investigation, let alone delaying the certification of the race, but nearly identical ones in 2018 are?

Don’t get us wrong – these all need to be investigated and those found guilty of fraud need to be punished to the maximum extent of the law. But how is anyone supposed to take Cooper and the Democrats seriously when the double standard they employ is so glaringly obvious?

Moreover, is Cooper filling up the Board with loyal Democrats that have previously ‘turned a blind eye’ to ‘unfortunate activities’ because they will insure he is protected?