Republican congressional candidate Mark Harris filed a petition in the Superior Court of North Carolina Thursday, requesting his certification as the winner of the state's 9th District election.
"I think I'm correct that I am the one seat remaining of the 435 to be seated," he said.
Harris unofficially defeated Democrat Dan McCready by just 905 votes in November but the results of the election still haven't been certified after allegations of absentee ballot fraud were levied against Harris' campaign. A hearing that was scheduled by the North Carolina State Board of Elections for January 11 was postponed Wednesday after the previous election board was dissolved by a three-judge panel. The new election board doesn't take over until January 31, leaving the future of the investigation up in the air.
In the petition, which was filed in Wake County, Harris cited state law for the certification of the election results by December 3, 2018. Harris claims the former board of elections "operated outside of any statutory authority" and that the wait for a new board "endangers" the uniform finality of a federal election.
"We had no choice but to take this action at this time," said Harris' attorney David Freedman. "There is uncertainty of when a new State Board of Elections will be operational, when a new State Board of Elections may act, and whether a new State Board of Elections will continue to drag this out unnecessarily and outside of any statutory procedure, as the prior State Board had done."
Earlier on Thursday, Congressman-Elect Mark Harris met with staff from the State Board of Elections to assist with their review of the 9th Congressional district election results.
Congressman-Elect Harris said of the interview, "I appreciate the courtesy of the staff at the State Board of Elections and support their efforts in getting the answers we all deserve. I look forward to a resolution soon so I can do what I was elected to do in Congress and be a voice for the People of the 9th District."
"Congressman-Elect Harris continues to be completely transparent and fully cooperative with the State Board of Elections," said Harris' attorney David Freedman.
Harris' opponent, Dan McCready, fired off some tweets Thursday evening in reference to the day's events.
"In light of Mark Harris’ press event today, let’s remember that Harris is under investigation for unprecedented election fraud perpetrated by his campaign, spearheaded by a man he handpicked and paid to produce votes. He is not the victim here, the voters are," said McCready.