A Congressman made baseless claims of voter fraud in eastern North Carolina Tuesday morning as he announced his plans to vote against certifying the presidential election.
Republican Rep. Greg Murphy, who represents the 3rd Congressional District in eastern North Carolina, said he would object to certifying the Electoral College votes for President-elect Joe Biden.
Murphy first made the announcement on a conservative talk radio show on WTIB in Greenville Tuesday morning.
Repeating false claims of voter fraud in states like Pennsylvania and Georgia, Murphy added a baseless claim of his own from North Carolina.
“I truly believe that fraud has occurred in this election. I know it’s occurred in the 3rd District. I know it for a fact,” he said on the show.
“A good friend up in the northeast corner had a relative staying in a nursing home during the COVID crisis. They were not allowed to go in, but people who went into the nursing home and got signatures, signed them up to vote on one particular party, were allowed access,” Murphy said Tuesday morning.
Although Murphy alleges fraud, people registering others to vote is not illegal. In fact, it’s common practice for volunteers and staff from both political parties to do voter registration drives.
Asked to clarify the accusation, Murphy told Spectrum News 1 that a constituent in Chowan County was concerned that a relative in a nursing home had voted. The woman, Murphy said, is “essentially incapacitated, had never voted before, and a group called MAT was allowed into the nursing home, registered that particular person, who had never been registered to vote before, and voted.”
Murphy said the Chowan County Board of Elections investigated the complaint and threw out the vote.
But that’s not true, according to Chowan County Elections Director Terrence Meyers. He knew about the specific voter in question and he said the vote was not thrown out.
“There is no voter fraud here,” Meyers said. “There’s nothing to hide here.”
He said the woman’s vote was counted. He said the woman knew her name and her birthday and was qualified to vote in the November election.
The “MAT” group Murphy said helped the woman vote, Meyers said, is a team with the County Board of Elections called a “Multipartisan Assistance Team” that helps people with disabilities vote.
“That was my best MAT team,” Meyers said in an interview with Spectrum News 1 Tuesday.
Data on voter complaints provided by the North Carolina State Board of Elections show no issues reported with possible fraudulent voters in Chowan County.
Murphy will join at least four other Republican members of North Carolina’s House delegation who have publicly said they will object to certifying the results of the election.
Elections officials and courts around the country have rejected multiple attempts by President Donald Trump to overturn the results of the election, which Joe Biden won by large margins in Electoral College votes and the popular vote.
Spectrum News 1 Reporter Kevin Frey contributed reporting from Washington.