Pat McCrory Lost the North Carolina Governorship. Now Hes Trying to Steal It.--For REAL...

[riversedge]

Nov. 21 2016 11:02 AM
Pat McCrory Lost the North Carolina Governorship. Now He’s Trying to Steal It.

http://www.slate.com/blogs/outward/2016/11/21/pat_mccrory_is_trying_to_steal_the_north_carolina_governorship.html


Jonathan Drake/Reuters




North Carolina Republican Gov. Pat McCrory, champion of the country’s most notorious anti-LGBTQ law, lost his bid for re-election on Nov. 8—at last count, by 7,448 votes. Yet nearly two weeks later, McCrory still refuses to concede. Instead, he and his legal team are baselessly alleging that the results were tainted by fraud, petitioning election boards to review the results and determine their validity. McCrory is not so obtuse as to think he can actually overtake his opponent, Democratic Attorney General Roy Cooper, in raw votes. His strategy is more insidious: He seems intent on delaying the formal declaration of a winner—and delegitimizing the voting process—in order to let the Republican-dominated legislature ignore the true result and re-install McCrory as governor for another four years.
Mark Joseph Stern Mark Joseph Stern

Mark Joseph Stern is a writer for Slate. He covers the law and LGBTQ issues.

This chicanery will be easier to pull off than you might expect. Thus far, McCrory has questioned votes in more than half of North Carolina’s counties. One attorney monitoring the proceedings called these challenges “silly, small in number, poorly researched and often defamatory,” which is undeniable: Republican-controlled county election boards have forcefully rejected McCrory’s challenges, concluding that there is simply no proof of widespread fraud or malfeasance as McCrory claims. Frustrated by these setbacks, McCrory petitioned the Republican-controlled State Board of Elections to take over the review process. The board refused, but it agreed to meet on Tuesday to set guidelines for how county boards should address complaints.

Despite the utter lack of evidence to support allegations of fraud, McCrory’s team has launched a misinformation campaign to cast a pall of suspicion over the results. His campaign spokesman asked, “Why is Roy Cooper fighting to count the votes of dead people and felons?” McCrory’s close ally and current state budget director, Andrew T. Heath, also tweeted that Durham County has 231,000 residents over the age of 18 but 232,000 registered voters, implying fraud. (In reality, Durham’s 2015 voting-age population was about 235,600, and the county has only 193,659 active registered voters; its Republican-controlled election board already unanimously rejected a complaint alleging malfeasance.) Now McCrory’s lawyers are targeting black American voter outreach groups for purportedly violating minor procedural rules while helping voters fill out absentee ballots. The governor has falsely accused these groups of conducting a “massive voter fraud scheme.”

McCrory can, and probably will, still ask for a statewide recount. But he must know that a recount will not close such a sizable gap. His real goal appears to be to delegitimize the results to such an extent that the state legislature—which holds a Republican supermajority—can step in and select him as the winner. North Carolina state law states that when “a contest arises out of the general election,” and that contest pertains “to the conduct or results of the election,” the legislature “shall determine which candidate received the highest number of votes” and “declare that candidate to be elected.” By alleging fraud, mishandling of ballots, and irregular vote-counting, McCrory is laying the groundwork for the legislature to proclaim that a “contest” has arisen as to “the conduct or results of the election.” At that point, it can step in, assert that McCrory received “the highest number” of legitimate votes, and “declare [him] to be elected.”
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[pangaia]

1. The new normal.

[MurrayDelph]

8. Not new

Norm Coleman did it to Al Franken eight years ago.

[dhill926]

2. well....the NC Dems better be able to beat this back....

if not, we're just fucked. They'll steal the whole country.....

[Horse with no Name]

5. they are well on their way.... n/t

[LisaM]

3. Probably some election shenanigans

The NCGOP doesn't want revealed.

[mopinko]

6. that's what i'm thinkin. i say- let the fratricide commence.

i tell ya what, it might just be worth a governorship to see a serious audit of any election, anywhere.

till they start screaming about elections, too, nothing is gonna move.

[Thinkingabout]

4. Sounds like he is trying to "rig" the results.

[Initech]

10. "It's rigged! It's a rigged system!"

"Crooked Hillary, Alec Baldwin and the cast of Hamilton are stupid losers who don't get that they didn't win. Don't you get it? I'm a winner. I win all the time. By the time I'm no longer president America is going to be so sick of winning! Pat McCrory is winning against a system that is rigged!"

[world wide wally]

7. I'm sure Trump is proud of him

[stolnepounder]

9. This is how democracy dies. n/t

[barbtries]

11. his support for this bullshit

from what i can tell is minimal.

asshole republicans.

[Yavin4]

12. Republicans, "We win no matter what the voters say!"

Democracy is dead in America.