in early january, by refusing to provide the names of republican candidates for the state elections board, as requested by cooper, and urging republicans not to accept seats on the board, north carolina republicans blocked the board's intent and ability to hold a scheduled hearing on january 11, 2019, meant for the purposes of investigating the possibility of fraud in the november 9 district election, leaving the district seat in congress vacant. republican party officials refused to send cooper the names of their party's candidates to fill vacancies on the board. responding to their obstructionism, cooper said: