Faith man told Tuesday he had already voted

Monday, May 04, 2009 3:06 AM  |  Printer friendly version | E-mail to a friend |

By Shavonne Potts

spotts@salisburypost.com

All David Barringer wanted to do Tuesday was vote. Too bad he already did.

The Faith resident went to vote the morning of Election Day and was told he'd already cast his ballot — three weeks earlier.

He's unsure of the circumstances, but believes either someone fraudulently used his name to vote or it was human error.

"I would like to find out who did this. It's scary in a way that someone would use your address to vote for you," he said.

Another theory is that another David Barringer gave his name and information and the person who worked at the polls accidentally keyed in the wrong Barringer.

Barringer said he'd been following campaign coverage for some time.

He went to the precinct in Faith to cast his vote. Barringer gave the poll volunteers his name.

"They said, 'Sir you've already voted,' " he said.

Barringer asked the volunteers when he supposedly voted.

Oct. 21, they told him, at the Rowan County Board of Elections Office in Salisbury.

"This is an election that decides the president of the United States. I want to make sure my vote counted," he said.

In order for him to still vote, Barringer had to fill out a provisional ballot, which was then sealed.

The Board of Elections will investigate to determine exactly what happened, said Elections Director Nancy Evans.

She explained the ballots will have to be examined, the signatures and addresses verified.

"A provisional ballot is a way to let the voter vote and the board to make sure it's a valid vote before it goes into the ballot box," Evans said.

All provisionals have to be researched by Nov. 14.

When a voter goes to a polling station, the volunteer asks for a birth date or name, Evans said.

It's up to the volunteer whether they ask a voter their name or birth date.

Barringer wanted to know why some sort of identification was not required.

Evans said the state does not require a potential voter to show identification.

"They cannot ask for ID, except for certain instances like same day registration or if they did not provide a Social Security number or driver's license number, then they have to show something," she said.

The law would have to be rewritten for elections officials to require identification, she added.

If a person happens to present an identification, the poll worker can use it to look up the person on the computer, Evans said.

"I just want to make sure it is all corrected," Barringer said.

David Barringer of Faith now wonders if his vote will count.