A Democratic state Senate candidate in North Carolina voted twice in the 2008 general election, according to records uncovered by the Charlotte News & Observer.
Donna Lake, who is challenging Sen. Jim Perry, R-Lenoir, in District 7, voted early in North Carolina and in New York on Election Day.
She was registered to vote in both places, according to each state’s Board of Elections, and remained so for nearly five years after she had moved from New York to North Carolina. Lake, however, has denied that she voted twice, even though public records prove that she did.
“In that election cycle I was actively involved with the Wayne County Democratic Party and even served as a poll observer,” Lake said in a statement. “The records reflecting that I voted in person in New York in 2008 are incorrect.”
The only other explanation for these records, then, would be that someone impersonated Lake at the polls. Perry argued that this would have been next to impossible.
“It’s clear that voter fraud has occurred, there can be no question about that. The real question is how did this happen, and how can my opponent claim that someone else cast the vote for her and also oppose voter ID,” he said in a statement.
According to North Carolina law, it is a “Class I felony” for a voter to vote twice in an election, said Karen Brinson Bell, the executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections.
Democratic state Attorney General Josh Stein agreed and admitted to the Washington Post that it “is a crime to vote twice,” even though he supports efforts to remove voting security measures.
Perry said that Lake’s fraudulent voting behavior confirms Republicans’ fear that Democrats will try to take advantage of the voting system to rig the election.
“At a time when our citizens lack faith in our electoral process, the last thing North Carolina needs is a legislator that public records show voted twice. Let me echo the sentiment of so many in recent weeks—don’t vote twice, it is illegal,” he said.
