Fifth Voter Arrested for Voting Twice in 2008

The fifth person was arrested today for voting twice  in the General Election of 2008.

Mr. Leland Lewis, 89, said he had voted early at a one-stop site on October 29, 2008 and after he placed the ballot in the tabulator he realized that he had only voted the front side of the ballot.  He went to his home precinct on Election Day and voted the back of a ballot.  Mr. Lewis contends that he informed election workers at the polls as to what he had done.  He says he even called the Wake Board of Elections and left messages reporting what he had done.

“Lewis said elections officials should have never permitted him to vote a second time, and that his case illustrates there’s a big hole in the system. “I think I showed the system is broken,” Lewis said.”

In previous reports, Wake County Elections Director, Cherie Poucher admitted “the large turnout in 2008 made it difficult for precinct workers to check off all of the early voters from the rolls of eligible voters,” but went on to declare “the existing system works.”  According to today’s News and Observer article she would only say that “she couldn’t comment on specific cases. But she said the case and that of four others who were arrested last week, arrested came after they were reviewed by the county elections board and the state board, which referred them to the district attorney.”

Mr. Lewis is a Republican while the four arrested last week were Democrats.  The common denominator for the five voters arrested so far is that they voted (at least once) at a one-stop voting site.