A high-ranking Republican congressman outlined a scheme to preempt the will of voters and award North Carolina’s 16 electoral votes to former president Donald Trump before ballots are tallied in that state.
Maryland Rep. Andy Harris argued on Thursday that the devastation of Hurricane Helene in North Carolina, and the potential voting challenges in the deepest-red counties that remain, should push the state's legislature to award Trump their electoral college votes.
The chair of the far-right House Freedom Caucus, said that a plan to deliver Trump the state without an election “makes a lot of sense.”
“You statistically can go and say, ‘Look, you got disenfranchised in 25 counties. You know what that vote probably would have been,’” Harris argued. “Which would be — if I were in the Legislature — enough to go, ‘Yeah, we have to convene the Legislature. We can’t disenfranchise the voters.’”
The move was suggested during a Republican dinner in Talbot County, Maryland. Harris was responding to keynote speaker Ivan Raiklin’s plan to use GOP-controlled legislatures in multiple swing states to award electors to Trump regardless of election outcomes.
Breaking! @freedomcaucus chairman @RepAndyHarrisMD at Talbot County Lincoln Reagan Dinner agrees that NC Speaker of the House @NCHouseSpeaker and the State Legislature should convene a joint session to allocate the electors on Nov 5 directly to ensure the franchise of 25… pic.twitter.com/Se5Dj0hLTD
— Ivan Raiklin (@IvanRaiklin) October 25, 2024
“It looks like just a power play,” Harris conceded about Raiklin’s scheme. “In North Carolina, it’s legitimate. There are a lot of people that aren’t going to get to vote and it may make the difference in that state.”
North Carolina Republican Rep. Patrick McHenry told Politico that he hadn’t heard about the plot, but dismissed the idea.
“It makes no sense whatsoever to prejudge the election outcome. And that is a misinformed view of what is happening on the ground in North Carolina, bless his heart,” McHenry said. “I’m confident we’ll have a safe and fair election in North Carolina, and then everyone that wishes to vote will have the opportunity.”
North Carolina has been in the cross-hairs of GOP operators since Hurricane Helene ravaged the area. Trump and his acolytes have spread the conspiracy theory that government officials are slow-walking recovery efforts in the area because of a supposed Republican bent. Officials on both sides of the aisle have debunked these claims repeatedly.
North Carolina election officials have intensified efforts to ensure voting is accessible in the state’s hardest-hit regions. A near-unanimous vote on Thursday in the state legislature gave the elections board resources to expand voting sites across the state.
