Rare News Desk
The North Carolina State Board of Elections has discovered thousands of ballots cast either fraudulently, through voter error or precinct error during the 2012 general election, including potentially 36,000 felony-level cases.
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“We have the ‘Walking Dead,’ and now we’ve got the ‘Voting Dead,'” said Sen. Bob Rucho, R-Mecklenburg.
“I guess the reason there’s no proof of voter fraud is because we weren’t looking for it.”
- 765 voters had an exact match of first and last name, DOB and last four digits of SSN, that were registered in N.C. and another state but voted in N.C. and the other state in the 2012 general election.
- 35,750 voters with the same first and last name and DOB were registered in N.C. and another state but voted in both states in the 2012 general election.
- 155,692 voters with the same first and last name, DOB and last four digits of SSN were registered in N.C. and another state – and the latest date of registration or voter activity did not take place within N.C., likely individuals who moved out-of-state before notifying their previous voting district
- 50,000 new death records that had not previously been provided to the State Board of Elections.
- 13,416 deceased voters on the voter rolls in October 2013.
- 81 deceased voters that had voter activity after they died.
The findings came from an election reform law that was passed last year by the state’s General Assembly. It allowed the board to cross-check its voters activity with that of 28 other days who also have similar “Interstate Crosscheck” programs.
“While we are alarmed to hear evidence of widespread voter error and fraud, we are encouraged to see the common-sense law passed to ensure voters are who they say they are is working,” said State House Speaker Thom Tillis, R-Mecklenburg, and Senate Leader Phil Berger, R-Rockingham, in a joint statement Wednesday.
“These findings should put to rest ill-informed claims that problems don’t exist and help restore the integrity of our elections process. We appreciate the State Board of Elections bringing this critical information to light.”
State Board of Elections Executive Director Kim Westbrook Strach went before the legislative Elections Oversight Committee Wednesday to deliver a report of the findings.
“We’re in the process of looking at each of these to see,” Strach said. “That means either a poll or precinct worker made a mistake and marked the wrong person, or someone voted for them. That’s something we can’t determine until we look into each case.”
The Elections Oversight Committee is also asking the board to create a digital database of voter photos and electronic signatures as another step of verifying one’s identity upon showing up at the polls to vote.
State Sen. Angela Bryant, D-Nash, said calls for further voter ID laws cannot stop individuals with two licenses’ from voting in two states.
“I think a lot of [lawmakers] are saying, ‘Aha, this proves what we did,'” said voting rights advocate Bob Phillips of Common Cause NC. “But if I have an ID, how is that going to stop me from voting in North Carolina if I’ve already voted in Florida?” Phillips said. “But I’m saying – as an advocate for good government, and an advocate for easy, accessible voting – sure, this needs to be looked at.”
