Caitlyn Croom arrested in connection to 9th district election fraud, SBI says
The North Carolina State Bureau of Investigation said Caitlyn Croom has been arrested in connection to the 9th district election fraud.
Croom was taken into custody on Sunday around 11:30 a.m. in New Hanover County, according to officials.
She's been charged with conspiracy to commit felony obstruction of justice and possession of absentee ballot.
Leslie McCrae Dowless, the political operative at the center of the investigation, was arrested last week on criminal charges over activities in the 2016 elections and the Republican primary in 2018.
Dowless faces charges of three counts felonious obstruction of justice, two counts of conspiracy to commit obstruction of justice and two counts of possession of absentee ballots.
According to testimony and other findings detailed at an election board hearing last week, Dowless conducted an illegal "ballot harvesting" operation. He and his assistants are accused of gathering up absentee ballots from voters by offering to put them in the mail.
He was working on behalf of Republican candidate Mark Harris, who had a slim lead in the vote count before the investigation.
