Documents claim McVicker’s campaign directed cash payments to Dowless

BLADEN COUNTY, NC (WWAY) — New information tonight about the connection between Bladen County’s sheriff and the man named as a person of interest in a state probe into potential election fraud in Bladen County.

Jeffrey Smith, a business owner and Dublin Town Commissioner, filed a federal civil lawsuit against Sheriff Jim McVicker, District Attorney Jon David and a deputy over their raid of Smith’s sweepstakes parlors back in 2015.

In a deposition filed in that case, Smith claimed that he and his wife tried to donate $4,000 to McVicker’s 2014 campaign for sheriff against incumbent Prentis Benston, but that the McVicker camp was worried about how the donation would look on campaign finance reports before the election. Smith said in the deposition that eventually the campaign asked him to give the money directly to McCrae Dowless to help finance his get out the vote efforts.

WWAY has also received a copy of a signed statement from Dowless but that was never submitted into the case record that corroborates Smith’s claim. In all, Smith and Dowless say Smith provided $5,800 to Dowless for campaign work for McVicker involving absentee ballots.

WWAY tried to to talk with McVicker today at the sheriff’s office in Elizabethtown, but he said he could not talk and walked away before a reporter could even tell him what we wanted to talk about. We have not yet been able to reach Smith.

Dowless is at the center of the controversy over ballots in Bladen County. That investigation has led the NC State Board of Election so subpoena records from McVicker’s campaign.

According to McVicker’s campaign finance reports available on the State Board of Elections’ website, he paid Dowless $3,000 in August and another $1,000 in September for “GET OUT TO VOTE.” The reports show McVicker also paid $8,000 through September to Red Dome, a political strategy company that has admitted using Dowless for its work this year.

McVicker’s 2014 reports are not available online. WWAY has requested them from the State Board of Elections but has not yet received them.

The questions about absentee ballots in Bladen County have kept the State Board of Elections from certifying the race for the 9th District Congressional seat as well as a couple of county elections.

As for Smith’s lawsuit, a federal judge recently dismissed the federal claims and remanded the state claims back to state court. Smith’s attorneys have appealed the ruling.