The North Carolina Republican Party is demanding an investigation into what appears to be a cash-for-votes operation in New Hanover County.
Text messages allegedly offered voters $100 to cast ballots for three Democrat candidates in Wilmington’s City Council race.
If confirmed, this would mark one of the most blatant examples of election corruption in recent state history—and it mirrors a scandal that erupted in Gary, Indiana.
In that 2023 case, Democrat precinct officials and campaign workers were charged with voter fraud after investigators discovered a coordinated effort to pay voters for absentee ballots.
Indiana Attorney General Todd Rokita filed felony conspiracy charges against multiple operatives who exchanged cash for votes, a scheme that prosecutors said “struck at the very core of the democratic process.”
Investigators found text messages, financial records, and testimony from voters who admitted they were promised small cash payments—often between $50 and $100—in return for casting absentee ballots for Democrat-backed candidates.
The similarities between the Gary and Wilmington cases are striking. Both operations allegedly used campaign “volunteers” or intermediaries to reach voters directly.
Both involved text communications offering explicit financial incentives tied to named Democrat candidates.
And in both states, the alleged payments targeted low-income residents—people more likely to be swayed by quick cash during election season.
In each case, the goal was the same: to manufacture turnout for one party by turning the ballot box into a marketplace.
In North Carolina, reports indicate that messages even included links to the official county elections website to make the bribe appear legitimate.
Hellbound and Down 