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Hearing Set For Evidence In Disputed NC-9 Congressional Race

In this Nov. 7, 2018, file photo Mark Harris speaks to the media during a news conference in Matthews, N.C. The North Carolina Board of Elections declined to certify the results of the 9th Congressional District Race between Republican Mark Harris and his Democratic opponent Dan McCready. (AP Photo/Chuck Burton, File)

The state's newly formed elections board will finally hear evidence in the disputed race for North Carolina's Ninth District congressional seat.

It's been more than two months since allegations of voter irregularities arose that have kept Republican Mark Harris from taking a seat in Congress.

But some evidence in the case will soon come to light. State officials have set Feb. 18 as the start date for the hearing in Raleigh. Findings from state investigators and arguments from representatives for Harris and his Democratic challenger Dan McCready will be presented.

It's expected to last two days but could take up to four.

After hearing the evidence, the board could declare a winner in the race or order a new 9th District election.

The previous state elections board refused to certify the results of the election, which Harris appeared to have won.

That decision was made after reports that some mail-in ballots could have been altered or trashed by a Harris subcontractor.

Paul Garber is a Winston-Salem native and an award-winning reporter who began his journalism career with an internship at The High Point Enterprise in 1993. He has previously worked at The Augusta (Ga.) Chronicle, The St. Louis Post-Dispatch, The News and Record of Greensboro and the Winston-Salem Journal, where he was the newspaper's first full-time multimedia reporter. He won the statewide Media and the Law award in 2000 and has also been recognized for his business, investigative and multimedia reporting. Paul earned a BA from Wake Forest University and has a Master's of Liberal Arts degree from Johns Hopkins University and a Master's of Journalism and Mass Communication from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He lives in Lewisville.

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