the north carolina state board of elections held an evidentiary hearing in february 2019. on february 21, the board unanimously voted to call a new election because of fraud by republican operatives. several republican campaign operatives have been indicted for their role in an illegal ballot harvesting and ballot tampering operation. in addition to illegal collection and handling of ballots, ballot tampering was admitted in witness testimony, including filling in blank votes to favor republican candidates. harris declined to run again. the state legislature passed a law requiring new party primaries.