Guilford County, N.C. - Many of us receive mail addressed to people who used to live at our home. However, what if you received a notice saying someone had used your address to register to vote?
It happened to a WFMY News 2 viewer, and it sparked a lot of questions about how the state and the county protect the integrity of your vote.
The viewer received cards in the mail from a presidential campaign saying, 'Thanks for registering to vote.' The problem? The names on the cards were not hers. She sent WFMY News 2 a copy and contacted the State Board of Elections.
As it turns out, both voters are properly registered. The Guilford County Board of Elections says it looks like the campaign made the address mistake.
The viewer lives here on tower lane. However, the two other voters live in a much different place with a similar name: Tower Village on the UNCG campus.
Here's how the board of elections polices voter registration:
* Staff members check info you submit against multiple databases from the state, DMV and Social Security.
* Every month, they also remove people from the system who have died.
* You have a personal responsibility, too. If you get a voter registration card for someone else in the mail, send it back and write, "Does not live here."
"It's easy to toss things in the trash. But, it's also easy to write on there, 'Not here,' and stick it back in the mailbox," Guilford County State Board of Elections Director George Gilbert said, "Send it back to the Board of Elections and we'll get it corrected, or we'll cancel that registration."
Gilbert says records are more accurate now than ever before because there are so many checks and balances in place. If someone were to register to vote from two different addresses, the computer would flag it and catch it immediately.
"I think there's a lot of talk. There's a lot of noise. But, people can be assured the integrity of process and the integrity of the rules is probably higher than it has ever been in our history," Gilbert said.
Gilbert says he knows fraud is rare is because when they do get the list of people who have died, none of those individuals have voted since their death. Plus, they rarely, if ever, get reports of individuals saying someone has used their name and address to vote illegally.
WFMY News 2