Leslie McCrae Dowless

Four people pleaded guilty on Monday to misdemeanors for their roles in absentee ballot fraud in rural North Carolina during the 2016 and 2018 elections.

Leslie McCrae Dowless is accused of leading a scheme to illegally collect, sign and mail in absentee ballots. An investigation into allegations of fraud overturned a 2018 congressional race.

North Carolina officials sought criminal charges after the 2016 election against the man now at the center of absentee ballot fraud allegations, but prosecutors didn't indict him before the now dis