North Carolina State Board of Elections investigates voter registration misconduct reports

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) -- The North Carolina State Board of Elections is investigating reports of misconduct by voter registration drive workers.

In recent months, reports have come from Brunswick, Buncombe, Chowan, Haywood, Nash, Scotland and Wake counties.

According to the NCSBE, complaints, similar to those raised in previous years, include the following:

• Those in voter registration drives are incorrectly telling voters they must re-register to vote for future elections, regardless of the situation. This is not true. Voters who are already registered do not need to re-register unless they move to a new county. Those who move within the same county, want to change their name or update their party affiliation should submit new voter registration application to update their record.

• There are also reports of people going door-to-door falsely claiming to be county or state election workers. Government election workers do not go door-to-door for any reason.

• Some voter registration applications submitted to county boards of elections are either missing required information or contain errors, such as incorrect date of birth or voter identification number that does not match state records. Falsifying a voter registration form is a Class I felony.

"The State Board will investigate all credible allegations of voter registration fraud by individuals or organizations," State Board Executive Director Sam Hayes said. "When workers involved in voter drives falsify or alter information on registration forms, it can cause problems for innocent voters at the polls. This is unacceptable and hurts voter confidence."