North Carolina elections officials: Hundreds may have voted in two states

At least 765 people may have voted in North Carolina and another state in the 2012 presidential election, the state Board of Elections says.

In a report to the state legislature Wednesday, the board said it had identified that number of people who had the same names and birth dates while the last four digits of their Social Security numbers were identical. Another 35,750 had matching names and birthdays.

The board cross-checked North Carolina records with those of people who voted in 28 states. The check was required by new election laws passed last year by the Republican-controlled legislature.

Republicans said the report proves that voter fraud is widespread.

“That is outrageous. That is criminal. That is wrong, and it shouldn’t be allowed to go any further without substantial investigations from our local district attorneys who are the ones charged with enforcing these laws,” state Sen. Thom Goolsby said.

Kim Strach, executive director of the board, said many of the apparent double votes may be the result of error by election workers because people often remain on voter rolls after they move or die and votes made by others are mistakenly attributed to them. She said the board will investigate the double votes and refer any cases where there is strong evidence of fraud to prosecutors.

Bob Hall of Democracy North Carolina said he knows of at least one other Bob Hall with the same birthday in the 28 states and many of the matches could be coincidental. Other cases of apparent voter fraud in North Carolina have not withstood investigation, he said.

“There may be cases of fraud, but the true scale and conspiracy involved need to be examined more closely before those with political agendas claim they’ve proven guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” Hall said.