Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced Tuesday that his office is investigating 1,000 Georgia residents who allegedly voted twice in the June primaries, which is illegal.
Raffensperger said the 1,000 individuals were among 150,000 who showed up at the polls despite having requested an absentee ballot by mail, according to WABE.
“The system worked fine; it’s not the system. It’s really voters, and sometimes I’m sure that people show up and say that they knowingly know what they’re doing,” Raffensperger said during the press conference. “The thousand people knew what they were doing. There’s no excuse under the law for double voting.” (RELATED: FLASHBACK 2012: NYT Reports Flaws, Fraud With ‘Mail In’ Ballots ‘Could Well Affect Outcomes This Fall’)
Raffensperger said most people out of the 150,000 appeared at the polling station after having requested an absentee ballot because they either never received the ballot or changed their mind and decided to vote in person. He added that voters who had already cast a ballot by absentee mail had been flagged by the system.
However, a few stragglers did evade the system.
“A double voter knows exactly what they’re doing, diluting the votes of each and every voter that follows the law,” he said. “Those that make the choice to game the system are breaking the law. And as Secretary of State, I will not tolerate it.”
When asked how he knew if someone voted twice, Raffensperger said “That’s why we do investigations.”
“By and large, we know one person was bragging about it down in Long County, and we’ll be investigating all 1,000 and we’ll get to the bottom of it,” he said.
Raffensperger said the 1,000 voters, spread across 100 Georgian counties, did not affect any elections.
“It did not affect any of the results, but we want to make sure people understand that any double voters will be prosecuted, will be investigated, and, if we have grounds, that we will be sending it over to prosecuting attorneys, and it will be taken up by a court of law.”
Double voting carries a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $100,000, according to Raffensperger.