At least 81 dead people have been voting in North Carolina over the last ten years, according to state election officials.
The North Carolina State Board of Elections indicated that voter fraud may be at play in a report Wednesday after finding 81 instances of the names of dead people on voting rolls on dates later than their deaths.
“We have fraud and error vulnerabilities in our election system,” North Carolina state Rep. David Lewis said Monday after the report’s release.
Republicans like Lewis use the data to argue that it is necessary to require voters to show identification at the polls, which is required under state law in North Carolina now.
“As I’ve stated all along, I am committed to preserving the integrity of North Carolina elections and asking folks to present photo identification at the polls is just the first step in this process,” he said.
Liberal opponents of voter ID laws say voter fraud is rare, and therefore it hurts lower income and minority voters by requiring them to have identification.
But the State Board of Elections reported finding other instances of potential fraud: they found 765 instances of voters in North Carolina who also voted in another state in the 2012 general election.