Democracy North Carolina says four state legislators could become the target of a voter fraud investigation due to the new controversial voting rules signed into law last year.
The group said Democratic representatives Duane Hall and Rodney Moore, along with Republican representatives Charles Jeter and Ronald Rabin, all have active voter registrations in other states with the same first and last name and same date of birth.
Democracy N.C. says it's not accusing any state lawmakers of a voting fraud crime, but trying to make the point the state's new voting rules are poorly designed.
The group said it is using the examples to make the argument that there are thousands of North Carolinians who moved to the state, and simply forgot to cancel their old voter registration or who just happen to share the same name and date of birth as a voter in another state.
Democracy N.C. said Republican claims of widespread voter fraud that helped pushed through tougher voter laws in the legislature last year are ridiculous and irresponsible.
"The hysteria about voter fraud is being used to justify restrictions that do not improve the fairness or security of our election system. They just reduce the access to our voting system for people who are occasional voters," offered Robert Hall with Democracy NC.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections is in the midst of an ongoing investigation into possible voter fraud involving 765 voters with the same name, date of birth, and last 4 digits of their social security number.
Democracy NC says those statistics are concerning and should be investigated. But it suggests lawmakers tone down their rhetoric about the 35,000 potential voters with the same name and date of birth as a voter in another state.
They say the records suggest the issue has a much more simple explanation, not a criminal one.
