How Long Will NC 9th District Seat Remain Empty?

CHARLOTTE – With the dissolution of the State Board of Elections, and a new Board not expected until next month, the investigation into election fraud accusations in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District is left hanging in limbo. The election remains uncertified, the seat on Capitol Hill remains empty. And it could stay that way for months.

Here the Charlotte Observer explores just how long the saga could drag on, and, if there is a new election called for, when the new election may happen.

““The election might wind up in November,” said Gerry Cohen, former special counsel for the North Carolina General Assembly. “Obviously, people would like to have the vacant seat filled earlier. There’s a lot of moving pieces.”

And the timetable for seating a representative in the district that stretches from south Charlotte to Fayetteville got even murkier this week. 

Gov. Roy Cooper said Wednesday that a planned Jan. 11 hearing by the state elections board won’t happen, after the board was dissolved by a three-judge panel last week following a long-running, partisan battle between Cooper and the state legislature over its makeup.”

So what are all the nuts and bolts required to assemble a new Board, a investigation conclusion, and a possible new primary and general election? More importantly, how long will more than 700,000 North Carolinians go without representation in Congress?

Read more from the Charlotte Observer here.