By Erin Smith
The Dan McCready campaign on Sunday submitted a written request to the NC State Board of Elections asking they issue 48 subpoenas to witnesses for the January evidentiary hearing. The evidentiary hearing into absentee ballot irregularities involving the 9th District Congressional race is scheduled for 10 a.m. Friday, January 11, 2019, in Raleigh.
Following the November 2018 general election, the unofficial results posted on the NC State Board of Elections website show Republican candidate Mark Harris was leading Democrat candidate Dan McCready by 905 votes.
According to the letter sent to the NC State Board of Elections by Attorneys Marc Elias and Jonathan Berkon, who are representing the McCready campaign, outlines their arguments why each witness should be “compelled to attend the hearing.” The letter suggests many of the witnesses have knowledge that could be relevant to the NC State Board of Elections investigation into absentee ballot tampering in Bladen County.
The letter requests the witnesses be given the right to plead the fifth at the hearing rather than being offered the opportunity to receive immunity from prosecution.
Attorneys Elias and Berkon write ,”Should summoned witnesses fail to attend the hearing or invoke their rights against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment to the United States Constitution if called upon to testify, the Board should draw all logical inferences.”
The list of proposed witnesses includes Republican candidate fo the 9th Congressional District Mark Harris, Leslie McCrae Dowless, Ginger Eason, Lisa Britt, Bladen County Sheriff Jim McVicker, Red Dome Group’s Andy Yates, Bladen County Board of Elections Chairman Bobby Ludlum and others.
You can read the complete list of proposed witnesses offered by Elias and Berkon here.