Editorial: McCrory's baseless claims of election fraud unfairly demean voters

The following is the opinion of Capitol Broadcasting Company

Look at the people president-elect Donald Trump has so-far picked for his administration. Surely there’s a nice spot that would be just right for Gov. Pat McCrory in the new administration.

If only that would happen. Soon. Then the citizens of North Carolina might be spared this needless and futile challenge to every vote cast in the 2016 race for governor as McCrory and the state’s GOP operatives vainly hope to reverse the inevitable.

Democrat Roy Cooper got the most votes on Nov. 8 and Republican McCrory did not. With every count of provisional and absentee ballots, with every review of local challenges, Cooper’s lead has only solidified.

It is a close election without doubt. The voters and citizens of North Carolina – just as much as the candidates – deserve to be assured that the process was fair and votes have been accurately counted.

It is time to move on with that process now and stop the delay tactics. Those actions simply frustrate the will of the voters and breed alienation.

The local and state Boards of Elections need to get on, as quickly as possible, with certifying the vote; conducting the re-count and declaring a governor-elect.

It is also time for McCrory to speak up himself, saying unequivocally he will abide by the process and support the result.

The hodge-podge of challenges to voting on the county level have either been rejected or are of such minor significance to have had no result-changing impact on the vote-count.

It demands that all of the estimated 90,000 voters who used same-day registration have their addresses verified.

By his own estimate, De Luca confesses the challenge won’t change the election results. “Even if they follow what we are requesting, the results aren’t going to change in most races,” he told WRAL-TV’s Mark Binker.

What the lawsuit does accomplish, is add more chaos and turmoil to the ballot-counting.

It is time to end the charade of claiming fraud and corruption in an election that was free and fair. It is time for our current governor to urge the vote-counting process move ahead without delay.

This is Pat McCrory’s last chance to demonstrate some leadership. He should, for once, stand up to the legislative bullies and partisan political manipulators, and be the governor voters thought they’d elected four years ago.