N.C. board sets hearing in 2 weeks to weigh election fraud claims

Feb. 4 (UPI) -- A long-awaited hearing on the outcome of North Carolina's 9th House District elections was scheduled Monday for Feb. 18, officials said.

The elections board, with five new members appointed by Gov. Roy Cooper last week after a court dissolved the previous board, will hear evidence about potential irregularities in the midterm vote.

Republican Mark Harris leads Democrat Dan McCready by 905 votes in the 9th District House race. The district, long a Republican stronghold, presently has no representation in the U.S. House.

State election officials have not yet certified the election results, citing possible voter fraud, particularly regarding absentee ballots in two rural district counties.

Officials are looking into claims a worker in Harris' campaign hired runners to go house-to-house to collect absentee ballots that should have been mailed in.

Harris has denied wrongdoing.

This month's hearing is expected to determine whether Harris will be certified as the winner, or if another election -- plus a new round of primaries and a general election -- is warranted.