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Mounting evidence of voter fraud in North Carolina’s 9th Congressional District could indefinitely delay the certification of a winner, as state election officials investigate whether hundreds of absentee ballots were illegally cast or destroyed. The North Carolina State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement has no plans to certify Republican Mark Harris’s 905-vote victory over Democrat Dan McCready, according to an agenda of a board meeting scheduled for Friday morning. The board is collecting sworn statements from voters in rural Bladen and Robeson counties, near the South Carolina border, who described people coming to their doors and urging them to...

The Senate advanced a controversial judicial pick for President Trump on Wednesday after Vice President Pence cast a tie-breaking vote for the nomination. Senators were deadlocked 50-50 to end debate on Thomas Farr's nomination to be a district judge for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Pence, presiding over the chamber, then cast the tie-breaking vote. The fate of Farr's nomination was held in suspense even going into the start of the vote on Wednesday afternoon. Four Republicans were viewed as potential swing votes: Sens. Marco Rubio (Fla.), Tim Scott (S.C.), Susan Collins (Maine) and Lisa Murkowski (Alaska). But Collins...

South Carolina Republican Sen. Tim Scott announced Thursday he will oppose embattled judicial nominee Thomas Farr, in a reversal of his position a day earlier that seemingly ends the nominee's chances for now amid fierce criticism by civil rights groups. Democratic lawmakers and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) have long cited Farr's work on the campaigns of North Carolina Republican Sen. Jesse Helms in 1984 and 1990. Farr was first nominated to the federal court in the Eastern District of North Carolina by former President George W. Bush in 2006, but never received a confirmation...

South Carolina GOP Sen. Tim Scott said Thursday he would oppose the nomination of Thomas Farr to the federal bench over his links to voter suppression efforts in North Carolina targeting blacks. Scott’s decision assures that President Trump’s nominee will not be confirmed by the Senate, where retiring Arizona Republican Sen. Jeff Flake had already said he would oppose Farr’s nomination. Senate Republicans have a slim 51-49 majority and could not afford to lose more than one vote since all 49 Democrats oppose Trump’s pick. In a statement explaining his decision, Scott, who is black, cited a 1991 Department of...

Senate Republicans on Thursday delayed a vote on one of President Trump's judicial nominees after a determination that they don't yet have to vote to confirm him. The Senate was set to vote at noon on Thomas Farr, who was nominated by President Trump to serve on the federal bench in North Carolina's Eastern District. But that vote was moved until some time next week. Sens. Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, are still deciding whether to support Farr, a former campaign lawyer for the late Sen. Jesse Helms who has been accused participating in a scheme to suppress...

Confirmation proceedings for President Trump’s judicial nominees have partially stalled on Capitol Hill, as outgoing Arizona GOP Sen. Jeff Flake is standing firm in his vow to oppose all Trump nominations until the Senate votes on legislation to protect Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s probe. Flake, a frequent Trump critic who opted against running for re-election this year, followed through on his threat Wednesday afternoon and joined Democrats in opposing a bid to advance Thomas Farr’s nomination to serve on the federal bench for the Eastern District of North Carolina. Vice President Pence was then forced to break a tie on...

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) abruptly stepped aside on Thursday to allow his House Freedom Caucus ally, Rep. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio), to run uncontested for the ranking member role on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee -- a position that he won. Jordan, who won the race with no other competitors to challenge him, is expected to be a fierce defender of President Trump when Democrats take control of the panel next Congress. They are expected to become involved in a series of investigations into the Trump administration. House Majority Whip Steve Scalise (R-La.) and two GOP lawmakers on the...

RALEIGH (WTVD) -- The North Carolina Senate on Thursday swiftly wrapped up the final vote on a proposed bill that spells out which photo identifications will be accepted to cast a ballot. UPDATE: By 30-10 vote, #VoterID bill SB824 clears last hurdle in the @NCLeg Senate. Proposal now moves to House for passage before requiring signature from @NC_Governor. @MyNCSenate @NCSenateDems @ABC11_WTVD #ncpol #ncga pic.twitter.com/xVZLQDF75A

<p>Lumberton Police Chief Michael McNeill told reporters at a news conference that state crime lab tests indicate the body found late Tuesday is Hania Aguilar. While a final determination will be made with dental records, investigators believe the body is hers.</p>

ROBESON COUNTY, North Carolina -- FBI agents and detectives found a body in Robeson County Tuesday afternoon while "following leads related to the search for 13-year-old Hania Aguilar," according to a bureau spokesperson. The area is where the FBI had previously asked the public for surveillance video to help piece together information about the teen's disappearance. "The body has not been positively identified, but investigators with the FBI, Lumberton PD, the SBI, and the Robeson County Sheriff's Office were following leads related to the search for 13-year-old Hania Aguilar when the discovery was made," FBI spokesperson Shelley Lynch said in...

After losing close governor’s races in Georgia and Florida, Stacey Abrams and Andrew Gillum are joining other black leaders to oppose one of President Donald Trump’s picks for a lifetime federal judgeship. Abrams and Gillum say in a joint statement Tuesday that the Senate should reject Thomas Farr’s nomination to a district court in North Carolina. The Democrats say Farr has a “discriminatory ideology” that threatens the voting rights of nonwhites. …

Minority Leader Charles E. Schumer pleaded with Republican Senators on Monday to defeat President Trump’s nominee to a North Carolina judgeship, saying Thomas Alvin Farr has shown he doesn’t respect black voters’ rights. Mr. Schumer said all 49 Democrats will vote against Mr. Farr, as will one Republican, Sen. Jeff Flake. If they can sway another GOP senator, they could defeat the nomination, dealing a blow to Mr. Trump. “This is a man who stands for disenfranchisement of voters, particularly minority voters, that is what he stands for. You can try to parse it any way you want, but that...

A Mexican father who hid out in a North Carolina church for close to a year to avoid deportation was detained when he attended an appointment with immigration officials. Samuel Oliver-Bruno, 47, had a scheduled meeting Friday at a Raleigh-area immigration office to provide fingerprints and discuss a petition to delay his deportation, so that he could stay in the country with his wife and son, who is a US citizen, local outlets reported. About 20 minutes after he walked into the office, plainclothes US Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers arrested him. The CityWell United Methodist Church’s pastor, Cleve May,...

Rep. Mark Meadows (R-N.C.) said Tuesday that House Republicans plan to hear testimony on Dec. 5 from the prosecutor appointed by former Attorney General Jeff Sessions to probe alleged wrongdoing by the Clinton Foundation. Meadows, who is chairman of the House Oversight and Government Reform Subcommittee on Government Operations, told Hill.TV’s “Rising” that it’s time to “circle back” to U.S. Attorney John Huber’s investigation with the Justice Department into whether the Clinton Foundation engaged any improper activities. “Mr. Huber with the Department of Justice and FBI has been having an investigation — at least part of his task was to...

WAKE COUNTY, N.C. (WTVD) -- Wake County Schools Director of Equity Lauryn Mascarenaz shared a firm message to all teachers in a tweet that has gone viral: Stay on top of breaking news stories with the ABC11 News App "Teachers repeat after me: I will not have students make "Indian feathers and clothes..I will not culturally appropriate an entire people for cute activities. I will tell students the truth about this country's relationship with Indigenous people."

WILMINGTON, N.C. — Stephanie Parker isn't quite sure how her family of six would have managed the last two months without the help of Michael Jordan and the American Red Cross following Hurricane Florence. So when Parker met Jordan on Tuesday she couldn't hold back giving the owner of the NBA's Charlotte Hornets a big hug and a thank you. "It means he hasn't forgotten," Parker told The Associated Press about Jordan's visit to Wilmington, North Carolina. "It means we are important." Jordan returned to his hometown wearing North Carolina Tar Heels blue and met with some hurricane victims, many...

Chickenpox has taken hold of a school in North Carolina where many families claim religious exemption from vaccines. Cases of chickenpox have been multiplying at the Asheville Waldorf School, which serves children from nursery school to sixth grade in Asheville, N.C. About a dozen infections grew to 28 at the beginning of the month. By Friday, there were 36, the Asheville Citizen-Times reported. The outbreak ranks as the state’s worst since the chickenpox vaccine became available more than 20 years ago. Since then, the two-dose course has succeeded in limiting the highly contagious disease that once affected 90 percent of...

The NC State College of Education has added a Doctorate of Philosophy in Teacher Education and Learning Sciences with an emphasis in Social Justice Education that will prepare scholars to serve and lead in championing educational success for all. Applications are now being accepted for this specialization area, which will enroll its first students in Fall 2019. The deadline to apply is Dec. 1, 2018. “The goal of the program is to help educators recognize and disrupt systems of oppression by helping to foster and create equitable learning environments,” said Jessica DeCuir-Gunby, a professor of educational psychology and Director of...

The family of a North Carolina teacher missing in a remote part of Mexico received the news on Thursday that Patrick Braxton-Andrew was killed by drug cartel members in late October.

Robert Cahaly, senior strategist for the Trafalgar Group, made a name for himself in 2016 by being the only pollster to correctly show Donald Trump with a lead in Michigan and Pennsylvania -- two key states he carried -- heading into Election Day. (He did not poll Wisconsin, another surprising win for Trump.) Cahaly also showed Trump ahead in North Carolina and Florida, both of which he won, securing his improbable 304-227 Electoral College victory over Hillary Clinton. Cahaly managed to pick up support for Trump that all other pollsters missed by employing a unique method that sought to measure...