NC Republicans will probe 'millions' of claims of modems 'tampering votes' -- but machines aren't even connected to the internet

Republican legislators announced they're investigating possible election fraud in one of the North Carolina counties that backed President Joe Biden.

State Rep. Jeff McNeely (R-Iredell) conducted a "random drawing" of a county name pulled from a hat, and Durham County -- where Biden carried nearly 81 percent of the vote and which Republicans have previously accused of voter fraud -- was chosen for scrutiny similar to a shoddy "audit" recently conducted in Arizona, reported WRAL-TV.

"We look forward to working with them, proving that our elections were true and were valid and there was nothing wrong with them," McNeely said. "If that's not the case, then we look to do an investigation, and if there needs to be criminal charges, they will be filed. We will also be accommodated and assisted by the [General Assembly] police in our investigation, and they will be the ones that will help us go and find any evidence and help us secure it."

GOP legislators say they've received "many, many millions of accusations" of "machine tampering votes being switched because of modems," although voting machines in the state do not have modems and are, by state law, not connected to the internet.

"It is extremely disheartening when elected officials do not trust the process that elected them, nor the thousands of bipartisan election officials and poll workers who ensure North Carolina's elections are fair and secure," said Brinson Bell, executive director of the State Board of Elections. "The state board has received no credible evidence that the certified results are not accurate, and elected officials from both sides of the aisle have stated that the 2020 general election in North Carolina was conducted fairly."

Bell and county elections officials said inspection of the voting equipment by unauthorized individuals would not be allowed, but McNeely said he would go to the county himself after next month's runoff elections to make sure machines are "safely locked up and secure."