Thread by @ESPortillo

McCrae Dowless has arrived for the #NC09 hearing. No comment as he walks in.

There's a protest underway before the hearing of #NC09 residents and Democrats who want a new election.

And Andy Yates, owner of Red Dome Consulting (firm that hired Dowless) has arrived as well. #NC09

Also spotted - key witness Ginger Eason.

. @MarkHarrisNC9 has arrived in the hearing room

And we're underway. @NCSBE chair Bob Cordle has called the hearing to order.

Both Republican board members open the hearing by saying they know Andy Yates, of Red Dome, but don't have a business relationship with him.

Bob Cordle starting with a brief history of the board that begins in 1901...

Board has two options, Cordle says: New election or confirm that no new election is needed. New election can be ordered if enough ballots are tainted to change outcome or if results are tainted by something else so severe it will "cast doubt on its fairness."

State board staff is about to begin their presentation of the evidence they've found. Witness appearances and cross examinations will follow.

Kim Strack, @NCSBE exec director, speaking. "The criminal investigation will continue to go on after today."

"A coordinated, unlawful and substantially resourced absentee by mail ballot scheme operated" during the election, Strack says. #NC09

This lines up with McCready's argument about margin of victory: "It's not just about those that have been returned. It's potentially about those that haven't been returned," Strack says. In Bladen, 595 absentee ballots were unreturned, and 1,493 were not returned in Robeson.

She acknowledges voters might not return ballots for other reasons than fraud, such as voting in person. But the irregularities were confined to Bladen and Robeson, Strack said.

"McCrae Dowless hired workers he paid in cash to hire workers to collect absentee ballot requests, absentee ballots and falsify witness statements," Strack says. #NC09

Dowless paid $150 for 50 ballots, generally, Strack said. #NC09

Phase one of Dowless operations - requests

Strach* my bad

"That is certainly a violation of the law," Strach says. #NC09. Phase 2

Dowless instructed workers to sign falsely as witnesses. Blank or incomplete ballots were VOTED in Dowless office, home, Strach says. #NC09

Dowless took care to use the same ink, put ballots in mail near voters, deliver ballots in small batches to hide scheme. #NC09

Dowless got $131K from Red Dome, Strach says, before primary. $83k before general. Not all. Necessarily for absentee ballot program though

"Efforts were made to obstruct this investigation," Strach says. Potential post-election bombshell. #NC09

Ten minute break, then witnesses

In the break, @DallasWoodhouse says he hasn't seen any evidence that would change his belief Harris' 905-vote margin would have been altered by Dowless' alleged actions.

Evidence slides

Lisa Britt testifying now under oath. Was not promised anything in exchange for testimony. She was interviewed by @WBTV_News last year and said "we did not go pick up absentee ballots" at the time.

McCrae Dowless was in the house during the interview, which was conducted in Dowless' kitchen.

"I speak to him on a daily basis," she said. "After I spoke with him for a few minutes, the interviewer pulled up, he explained that was a friend of his he'd spoke with a few times, and he'd like me to give Mr. Ochsner an interview."

"Were all the statements you made during that interview truthful?"
"No ma'am," Lisa Britt says.

"Mr. Dowless has always been a father figure to me," Britt said. "Well, I'm not sure after today."

Dowless is her former stepfather, who took Britt in even after her mother and he divorced. She doesn't want to get him in trouble, Britt says. #NC09.

Britt admits that she voted in November despite being a convicted felon on probation.

"He was working for Mr. Harris," Britt says of Dowless. She didn't know how much he was paid for his efforts.

She had no previous knowledge of absentee ballot laws, Britt said. "It was explained to us by Mr. Dowless."

"Bladen County is a poor county," Britt says. They collected voters' absentee ballot request forms (legal). "We were trying to give everyone the opportunity to vote."

Collecting just absentee ballot requests from voters, Britt says herself, Jennifer Boyd, Tracy Cook, another lady, Jimmy Singletary, Woody Hester all may have. "I myself worked Bladen and Columbus County...everyone else just pretty much Bladen County area," and some in Robeson

"Were you paid to get absentee ballot requests?"
"Yes ma'am," Britt says. "We were paid by the amount of people we had registered...For every 50, myself and whoever my partner was at the time would receive a certain amount...I think the amount was between $150-$175."

"I would make copies of them and put it in a folder...the originals would be given to Dowless," Britt says of absentee ballot requests (not the ballots themselves). Then Dowless would pay her.

Dowless paid in cash, Britt says.

"We basically went to areas where there were more people," Britt says. "You'd rather go to an area with 100 people then go to a single home where you might get two or three at the most."

"Throughout the whole thing, I have no idea what that number would total up to," Britt says of how much she was paid during the 2018 election by Dowless.

"We were sent back out to their homes once their ballots came back in the mail to explain to them if the ballot wasn't correctly witnessed by 2 voters, the @NCSBE would kick it out," says Britt.

Britt says she would offer to witness votes and also - "I could go ahead and place it in the mail for you."

"The way he explained it to us was the same way I explained to you," Britt says. "If they didn't have the witnesses for the ballot, we would bring the ballot back...We also got paid by the ballot."

"We weren't paid as much with the ballots as with the request forms," Britt says. "If they didn't have witnesses, we would bring it back with us."
"You would collect them?"
"Yes ma'am," Britt says.

They received $125 for every 50 ballots, Britt says (though she's not 100% sure on amount)

That switched to a weekly $200/week flat rate because it was harder to pick up ballots.

Asked why it's harder to collect absentee ballots than request forms, Britt answers: "A lot of people don't want to give you their absentee ballot." #NC09

One voter, Emma Shipman, told Britt she couldn't see very well when she marked her absentee ballot.
"I told her I could assist her," Britt said. "Her niece came over and helped her fill out her ballot. Myself and my so stayed outside while they filled out the ballot."

She collected the ballot and took it back to Dowless. When Horace Munn of the Bladen County Improvement Association complained, Dowless told Britt to return the ballot to Shipman.

The ballot was returned more than a week later, Britt said. She had also seen Munn and Lola Wooten of the BCIA in Dowless' office. "(Wooten) felt Mr. Dowless had people going to pick up ballots from her people."

After that mix-up, Britt says she received a list of people Wooten had registered to vote, and took them off the list of voters they were going to collect from.

And we're on another ten-minute break

Back in session, discussing absentee ballot signatures for James Shipman.

*Request form, not ballot.
"Mr. Shipman was deceased at the time this form was signed," @NCSBE investigator says.
"Brought in by McCrae Dowless, 10/4/2018" the form says.

Britt went alone to collect ballots, she testifies. If she picked up a ballot without witness signatures, Britt says she'd say: "We had two people who would witness it for them, and we would witness it and go ahead and send it off to the Board of Elections for them."

Britt also testifies she collected unsealed ballots for Dowless. "Of course out of curiosity, I peeked at one to see who had voted for," she said. "On that ballot, they had actually voted...straight Democrat." #NC09

"If some of the things hadn't been filled in, we would fill in the ones that hadn't been filled in," Britt says. They voted unsealed ballots in the office or at Dowless home. "It would be the simple ones, like Board of Elections..../"

Sheriff, congress were filled in because voters knew who those were, Britt says. "I don't recall one those weren't filled in on." But the "little things," like other local races, they would fill in. "What I would do is vote whoever was a Republican."

Britt said she filled out other down-ballot races at Dowless' direction, to avoid making the Board of Elections suspicious about why so many ballots only had Congress, Sheriff, and other marquee races filled in.

"I know Ginger Eason (another Dowless worker) marked an unsealed ballot," Britt says.

Britt was staying with Dowless at the time, and took ballots to him at home or in his office. He kept them in a shelf so Britt's two- and four-year-old wouldn't grab and mark them up, she said.

Britt and Mr. Singletary witnessed ballots for about a week and a half, then stopped when they witnessed so many "it did throw up a red flag."

"I signed my mother's name," on ballots she witnessed, Britt said, once she had signed too many and Dowless said it would throw up a red flag. Dowless was there when Britt did so, she testifies.

"He mailed them in to the Board of Elections," Britt says of Dowless. She was also tasked with mailing them. "If they were from the Dublin area, we mailed them from the Dublin office. We didn't mail over 9 or 10 at a time because we didn't want that to throw up a red flag either"

Britt placed a stamp on one envelope upside down. "Mr. Dowless fussed at me about that...if you got 10 or 15 coming in that way, they're going to know, 'Oh wait a minute, why are they doing it that way?'"

"I didn't think about it at the time...but it kind of made sense" that people would be suspicious if a bunch of ballots came in all with stamps upside-down, Britt says. #NC09

"We were all told to sign with the same color ink as the voter had signed with," said Britt. "You can see where some of the signatures were gone over so they'd have the same color ink...Mr. Dowless wanted the voter signature and witness signature to be in the same color ink."

Sidenote: We're still on Witness 1 here. This hearing seems likely to go the distance to late Wednesday, at this pace. #NC09

Lisa Britt is now describing Ginger Eason allegedly filling out another voter's ballot in her car and having someone falsely witness it.

Britt says she doesn't know how many ballots she collected total. She read that she witnessed 49, but doesn't know the total herself.

Britt testifies that she and Jennifer Boyd also collected ballots in Robeson County. They showed them to Dowless to get paid for the ballots, but Britt believes Boyd kept the ballots to turn in/mail from Robeson.

"There were a couple times we told him we had 50, but only had 44 or something," Britt testifies about shorting Dowless for ballots collected, so they could get paid.

Britt also testifies that she personally met Mark Harris. "I met him prior to any of this at the peanut festival parade," and during hurricane relief, as well as other public functions.

"I think Mr. Harris was completely clueless as to what was going on," Britt said. But she says: "I think Mr. Yates may have known...I could be wrong about that because maybe they were speaking about other numbers."

"We've got so many on this side, and Democrats have turned in this many," Britt says she heard Dowless and Yates saying (Dowless spoke on speakerphone often). But she says she can't be 100% sure.

After the investigation started, Britt testifies Dowless called her and other campaign workers to his house. "As long as we all stick together we'll all be fine, because they don't have anything on us." #NC09

Dowless told them to say "He never told them to collect any ballots." "Was that true?"
"I'd have had no reason to collect any ballots. Wouldn't have done me any good," Britt answers.

This PAST THURSDAY, Dowless gave BRITT and her mother a letter, at his house, Britt says. #NC09

This paper is what Dowless gave them and told them to say, Britt says.

"I do feel I have done wrong," Britt says.

"You've got one innocent person in this whole thing...and that's Mr. Mark Harris," Britt testifies. #NC09

Hearing is in recess until 2 p.m. Then cross-examination of Witness No. 1 will commence. Attorney says it will not be short.

The paper reads: "I can tell you that I haven't done anything wrong in the election and McCrae Dowless has never told me to do anything wrong, and to my knowledge he has never done anything wrong, but I am taking the 5th Amendment because I don't have an attorney and I feel like/

you will try to trip me up. I am taking the 5th."

During the recess, Dowless declined to comment, but his attorney said events have been misrepresented.

And we're back. Marc Elias, @McCreadyForNC attorney, is cross-examining Lisa Britt.

Elias is asking if Britt knew details about Dowless' arrangement with @MarkHarrisNC9 campaign, probing for more exact details about how she collected, where ballots were stored in Dowless' house. Lots of recap at this point.

Britt clarifies that she only is aware she collected one unsealed envelope. "I don't think anyone else gave me an envelope that was unsealed." Elias presses her on that, says they'll come back to it.

"You were voting other people's ballots?" - Elias
"Yes sir." - Britt
"And you have a felony conviction?" - Elias
"Yes sir." - Britt
"What was that for?" - Elias
"It was a pill conviction. Selling pills." - Britt

"We were doing what we were paid to do." - Lisa Britt #NC09

"There's a lot of things that you would kind of place trust in from someone that's your father figure." - Lisa Britt on why she trusted McCrae Dowless even when she felt they were doing something wrong.

Elias asks if Britt knew for sure that Dowless turned in all the ballots he collected, and she said no:
"He could have taken them and thrown them out?" - Elias
"Yeah, I guess he could have." - Britt

Lisa Britt is denying that much of this absentee voter affidavit is accurate. Britt she never said she was "assigned to the district," and that she didn't take the envelope unsealed.

This affidavit is in question now. Britt says these voters requested absentee ballot through her. They say they didn't.

Asked if they would lie, Britt quips that they both are on disability even though the affidavit says they have no legal disabilities.

"I've met Mr. Yates. I think he was the one over Red Dome," Britt says. "Red Dome is the consulting firm Mr. Dowless works for."

Yates came down with Harris to Bladen County to help after the hurricane last year, Britt said.

"They were at a BBQ restaurant in Bladensboro," Britt says. "There was probably 20 people there."

"Mr. Yates and Mr. Dowless used to speak on the phone, yes sir. They would speak pretty frequently," Britt said. "I'm not 100% sure what their conversations were...It would be early in the morning."

"They would have conversations about I've got this many, we've got so many...as far as Lola Wooten and then so many as far as what his people had done," Britt says.

"I didn't prepare for my testimony. I came in here and told the truth," Britt says, when asked if she's talked to Harris campaign or anyone else in preparation.

Britt's cross-exam No. 1 by McCready attorneys is over, clocking in at 1 hour 5 minutes. Harris attorneys starting now.

Britt was living with Dowless, her former stepfather, and he was supporting her and her kids during the campaign, Britt says.

"You were never told to sign any absentee ballot request forms?"
"We were told on many occasions by Mr. Dowless do not sign anyone's name." - Britt, on the absentee ballot requests.

Dowless also kept absentee ballot request forms requested by the Bladen Improvement PAC at his office, separate from those he collected himself, Britt says.

Britt also says she made copies for Lola Wooten, of the Bladen Improvement PAC, as well.
"Did you ever ask Mr. Dowless why he was meeting with a competitor, and making copies for them?" - Harris attorney.
"That was kind of his secret weapon," Britt answers.

"Even though she was recruiting for the Democrats, she was willingly bringing things to Mr. Dowless?" - Harris attorney asks "They were sort of staying off each other's turf?"
Lisa Britt says yes, they were aware of each other and tried to stay out of each other's way.

Britt says they kept lists of voters and kept Democrats and Republicans separate: "If it was someone from Bladen Improvement (Dem-aligned PAC), it would be highlighted out...Everybody would know not to go back to that house."

"I probably picked up around 35 or 40" absentee ballots, Britt testifies. About were properly witnessed, others she signed for as a witness improperly.

"The names you filled in had nothing to do with Dr. Harris' race?" @MarkHarrisNC9 attorney asks. "You didn't submit one vote the voter had not intended to vote for Dr. Harris?"
Britt says that's correct, she never added a vote for Harris.

Freedman, the Harris attorney, tried several times to ask Britt if it would be unfair to voters to deny Harris the #NC09 seat. @NCSBE chair denied several iterations of the question.

Lisa Britt is excused. One witness down. Next up: Kelly Hendrix.

Kelly Hendrix, of Bladen County, is crying on the stand as she recounts meeting McCrae Dowless. "I needed a ride to work that day...Just from there, he resembled my dad, so much that I just connected with him." #NC09

Hendrix says Dowless paid her for ballot request forms, but "He would never really say he was paying me for the request forms." He gave her money for gas and expenses.

"Did you also collect ballots?"
"Yes ma'am," Hendrix says.
"Who asked you to collect ballots?"
"It was Mr. Dowless."

"Were you paid for collecting ballots?"
Hendrix says not specifically, "He would just give me money for gas and if I needed anything else." #NC09

Hendrix testifies that she turned in ballots she collected with just her signature on them. Second witness signatures were added later by other people, Hendrix says.

Hendrix also testifies that Dowless asked her to witness ballots collected by his other workers as well. She signed the ballots despite not actually witnessing the votes.

"They were always sealed," Hendrix testifies of the ballots she collected.

Another 10 minute break, before the next witness.

Lisa Britt's mother and McCrae Dowless' ex-wife, Sandra Dowless, is now testifying. They divorced in 1993. She lived at Dowless' house in 2018 for 6 or 7 months after surgery. #NC09

Sandra Dowless says she found this note after a meeting with Jeff Smith. She says she heard people saying they should pick up ballots, sealed or unsealed.

"I said who people vote for is none of their business," and Dowless blamed Jeff Smith for the alleged voter scheme. "He said that (the note) is his insurance policy."

"Did you ever overhear a conversation between Mr. Dowless and Mr. Harris?"
"Yes," Sandra Dowless says. "Mr. Harris called McCrae and he apologized and said he'd been busy all day. McCrae said I want you to know you're way in the lead, things are looking good here."

"I went to the election board and saw who turned ballots in and how many turned them in," said McCrae Dowless, his ex-wife testifies. Harris asked if that was legal, and Dowless said yes, anyone can look and see who's voted, and he knows how people vote.

Asked if she's surprised that Red Dome (consultant) paid McCrae Dowless about $214,000 during the '18 election, Sandra Dowless says yes. Why?
"Because he didn't ever have any money," she answers, drawing laughs.

Next witness up is Kimberly Robinson, who says she turned over a blank ballot to McCrae Dowless campaign workers.
"I was told if I didn't fill it out, it would get filled out for me...I was not familiar with the politics," she says.

She says she's done that a couple times before as well.

She said Dowless did not pay her for her ballot.

Precious Hall, a witness, is now testifying that "Squeaky" (Sandra Goins) and Lola Wooten, connected with the Bladen County Improvement Association PAC, collected her completed ballot.

"We would call McCrae Dowless," the @NCSBE says. #NC09

Dowless' attorney says he has appeared as directed by subpoena. "I'm saying he is willing to testify is he is so ordered by this board." - Unclear if he'll take the stand or the 5th.

McCrae Dowless waiting to see if he's compelled to testify.

Dowless' attorney is not directing him to testify, she says, unless he's compelled/gets immunity. #NC09

Board is going into closed session to decide if Dowless should be put on the stand to face questions or invoke the 5th Amendment. We're on the clock here, as the police are kicking us out at 5:45 p.m.

Board is back

Chairman Bob Cordle says "We have a statute in N.C. that is probably stronger than the Fifth Amendment." If Dowless testifies, he'd get immunity.

Dowless will NOT be compelled to testify, Cordle says. If he refuses, the board can take "negative inferences" about his actions. #NC09

Hearing adjourned. Everyone must leave the building now. See you tomorrow at 9:30 a.m.! #NC09