RALEIGH, N.C. _ The stepdaughter of a Bladen County political operative detailed how she said his ballot harvesting operation worked on the first day of the state board's hearing Monday into voting irregularities in the unresolved 2018 election in North Carolina's 9th Congressional District.
Lisa Britt, whose mother was married to Leslie McCrae Dowless in the early 1990s, testified that Dowless paid workers to collect absentee ballot request forms and mail-in absentee ballots and drop them off at his office and his home. She said Dowless or others made copies of request forms and had specific criteria for matching pen colors, where to mail ballots from, how many to mail at a time and even how to place stamps to avoid setting off alarms.
"He fussed at me for putting on stamps upside down," Britt testified for several hours. "We didn't want to throw up a red flag."
Britt's testimony was the beginning of the new five-member state board of elections attempt to prove "a coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee ballot scheme operated during the 2018 general election in Bladen and Robeson counties."
The long-awaited hearing, taking place in a makeshift courtroom at the state bar, drew dozens of potential witnesses as well as national media. When it ends, the board will vote to either certify the victory of Republican Mark Harris, call for a new election or deadlock, throwing the matter into limbo. Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in unofficial results in the district, which runs from Charlotte to Bladen County in the east.
Dowless was hired by Red Dome Group, Harris' campaign consulting group at Harris' direction. The state board said Red Dome Group paid Dowless $131,357.57 from July 3 to Nov. 7, but stipulated that it could not be certain all of the money was for Harris' campaign.
Monday marked the first time state officials revealed their findings in the investigation, which launched in November and twice caused the old nine-member state board not to certify the election results.
Late in the evening, Dowless himself was called to testify. His lawyer said he would only testify with immunity _ leading the board to meet with its attorney in closed session, just minutes before its self-imposed 5:45 p.m. time to end the day's session.
Britt, a convicted felon who had previously spoken to investigators, said she didn't think Dowless would have her do anything illegal.
"I don't want to get him in trouble. I don't want to get anyone in trouble," Britt said. " ... Mr. Dowless has been a father figure to me for 30 years. There's certain things you would place trust in. He's not going to put you out here to do something illegal."
But Britt outlined a process by which she and other workers often signed as witnesses for ballots they did not see signed, traced over signatures to make sure the ink colors matched, forged signatures and filled in down-ballot races on some ballots.
It is illegal in North Carolina for anyone outside of a close relative to handle a voter's absentee ballot.
She also told the board that Dowless _ on at least two occasions _ tried to influence her public statements and testimony. As controversy swirled over the election results last year, Britt said Dowless called her and other workers together for a meeting at his house.
"As long as we all stick together we'll all be fine, because they don't have anything on us," Britt said Dowless told them.
Britt, who along with her two young children lived with Dowless for a time last year, said late last week that Dowless sent her a note urging her to say she had done nothing wrong, that Dowless had never instructed her to do anything wrong and to take the Fifth Amendment against self-incrimination before the board.
The note was entered into evidence.
Britt testified that she made false statements during a December interview with WBTV, in which she denied collecting absentee ballots.
"I do feel I have done wrong," she said. "Did I know I was? No."
Harris sat in the room throughout the testimony, often staring intently at television screens displaying exhibits. He told reporters he would comment later. McCready did not attend. Dowless sat near the back of the large room with his attorney.
"It's not true," Dowless' lawyer Cynthia Adams Singletary said about possible obstruction by her client during a break in the hearing. "Yes, I do believe he did not break any laws."
Britt's mother and Dowless' ex-wife, Sandra Dowless, testified Monday that she overheard Dowless and Harris talking about the campaign and his get-out-the-vote effort. Dowless told Harris that he was "way in the lead," Sandra Dowless said of the conversation she heard on speakerphone.
Harris asked how Dowless knew that, Sandra Dowless said, and Dowless said he'd gone to the local board of elections and saw who had voted. Harris asked if that was legal and Dowless assured the candidate it was and that he would not do anything illegal, Sandra Dowless said.
The McCready campaign argues that the number of ballots affected by Dowless' operation could be as high as 2,500. They cite the 1,364 absentee ballots cast in Bladen and Robeson and the 1,169 sent to voters that were not returned and who did not vote in another way.
Republicans say unreturned ballots don't necessarily suggest fraud and an attorney for the Harris' campaign worked to point out that the Bladen County Improvement PAC was working to request numerous absentee ballots as well. Republicans say McCready must show that any fraudulent ballots actually made a difference.
"I will concede they don't have to get to 905, but they would have to get doggone close," Dallas Woodhouse, executive director of the state GOP, told reporters Sunday night.
Under state law, the board can call for a new election if "irregularities or improprieties occurred to such an extent that they taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt on its fairness."
There were 684 mail-in absentee ballots cast in Bladen County _ 420 for Harris, 258 for McCready and six for Libertarian Party candidate Jeff Scott. There were 680 mail-in absentee ballots cast in Robeson County _ 403 for McCready, 259 for Harris and 18 for Libertarian Jeff Scott.
A Wake County judge denied an attempt earlier this year by Harris to force certification through a lawsuit against the Board of Elections.
When the board votes this week, some expect a deadlock between its three Democrats and two Republicans. It takes four votes to call for a new election and three to certify an election. Democrats say that could send the matter to the U.S. House, which has a final say over its membership.
